One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant turnips is to refer to the USDA zone info for Happy Valley.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since turnips are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Happy Valley 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your turnips indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Happy Valley. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Happy Valley is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Happy Valley last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your turnips if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Happy Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Happy Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Happy Valley.