One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Newport you will be able to figure out when you can plant pearl onions.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

You can plant pearl onions slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Newport 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pearl onions indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Newport. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Newport is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Newport you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your pearl onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport

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