One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Erie you can estimate when to plant broccoli by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

Frost tolerance for broccoli:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since broccoli do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Erie 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your broccoli may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your broccoli indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Erie. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Erie you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your broccoli if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

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 Erie

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