The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Salem can be reviewed to determine when you can plant banana.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since banana do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Salem 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Salem. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your banana in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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