When to Plant Garlic in Milwaukee, WI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

You can figure out when to plant garlic in Milwaukee by checking out 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.

Since garlic are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant garlic
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant garlic
Probably not a good time to plant garlic

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Milwaukee 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 garlic and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garlic may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garlic indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Milwaukee is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Milwaukee you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your garlic in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Milwaukee

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Milwaukee

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