One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant stocks is to examine the USDA zone info for Bedford.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

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

Stocks do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Bedford 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 stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stocks may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your stocks indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Bedford is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bedford you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your stocks in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

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 Bedford

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