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.

The USDA zone info for Zone 5b should be used to figure out when it's possible to plant cauliflower.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

Since cauliflower are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in Zone 5b is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cauliflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cauliflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cauliflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5b. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5b is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5b last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cauliflower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

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