One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant pearl onions is to use the USDA zone info for Fort Atkinson.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Pearl onions can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Fort Atkinson is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Fort Atkinson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Atkinson may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Atkinson you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pearl onions if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Atkinson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Atkinson

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Atkinson.