When to Plant Banana in Zone 3b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant banana by checking out the USDA zone info for Zone 3b.

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Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant banana until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant banana in Zone 3b is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your banana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Zone 3b. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 3b is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 3b there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your banana in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-35°F
Highest Expected Low-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3b.