One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Marion should be reffered to in order to figure out when to plant shallots.

Planting Calendar for Shallots

Frost tolerance for shallots:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since shallots are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant shallots in Marion 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 shallots and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your shallots indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marion and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Marion there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your shallots if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

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