When to Plant Flax in Zone 3b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant flax is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 3b.


Planting Calendar for Flax

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

Since flax do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant flax in Zone 3b 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 flax and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flax indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 3b the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 3b and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 3b last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your flax in the event of a late frost.

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.