The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant banana is to use the USDA zone info for Hillsdale.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant banana until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Hillsdale 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hillsdale. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

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 Hillsdale and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Hillsdale you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your banana if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsdale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsdale

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