Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Gillette you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant lettuce.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Gillette 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Gillette. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gillette is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Gillette you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your lettuce in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gillette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Gillette

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