Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when to plant garlic by reviewing the USDA zone info for Cincinnati.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

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

Garlic tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Cincinnati 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garlic may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your garlic indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cincinnati. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cincinnati is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cincinnati you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your garlic in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cincinnati

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Cincinnati

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