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 Dover you can determine when it's possible to plant zucchini by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Zucchini do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your zucchini may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your zucchini indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Dover may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dover there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your zucchini in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Dover

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