One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Amherst can be reviewed to estimate when it's the best time to plant onions.

Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Onions tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant onions in Amherst 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Amherst. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Amherst is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Amherst you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Amherst

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 Amherst

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