One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant garlic in Waterloo by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

Frost tolerance for garlic:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Garlic are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Waterloo is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garlic and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garlic may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your garlic indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterloo and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waterloo you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your garlic if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Waterloo

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