One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Great Falls you can figure out when it's the best time to plant flax by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

You can plant flax a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant flax in Great Falls 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 flax and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your flax indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Great Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Great Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Great Falls you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your flax in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Great Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Great Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Great Falls.