When to Plant Clover in Zone 5a

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant clover in Zone 5a can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Clover

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

You can plant clover slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant clover in Zone 5a 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 clover and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your clover may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your clover indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 5a. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 5a is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 5a it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your clover if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.