When to Plant Dill in Zone 5a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Zone 5a you should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant dill.


Planting Calendar for Dill

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

You can plant dill a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

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 5a and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your dill in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.