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.

In Springfield you can determine when to plant garlic by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

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

Garlic do ok in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Springfield is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garlic and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your garlic may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your garlic indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Springfield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Springfield you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your garlic if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Springfield

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