The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 shallots is to use the USDA zone info for Zone 3b.

Planting Calendar for Shallots

Frost tolerance for shallots:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant shallots just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant shallots and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your shallots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Zone 3b. You should expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 3b and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 3b it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your shallots 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.