Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant turnips in Helena should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Turnips require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Helena is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Helena. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Helena is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Helena there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your turnips if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Helena

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 Helena

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