When to Plant Beets in Billings, MT

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when to plant beets is to look at the USDA zone info for Billings.


Planting Calendar for Beets

Frost tolerance for beets: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Beets can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant beets
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant beets
Probably not a good time to plant beets

The earliest that you can plant beets in Billings is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant beets and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your beets may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your beets indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Billings the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Billings is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Billings there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your beets in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Billings

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Billings

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Billings.