Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Merrill you can figure out when it's possible to plant garlic by looking at 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Merrill the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merrill and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Merrill you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your garlic if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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