Zone 5a planting calendar

What to plant in January: zone 5a

A rule-of-thumb starting point for zone 5a: last spring frost around May 10, first fall frost around October 1. Zones are set by winter lows, not frost dates, so two gardens in the same zone can be weeks apart. Measure your ZIP below for dates from your area's own 30-year record.

These are zone-average dates. Check an area-level frost estimate from thirty years of nearby weather history and this calendar retimes itself.
Typical last frost: May 10
Typical first frost: October 1
Winter lows: -20 to -15 °F
Zone 5a Almanac. What growers here actually recorded: sowing weeks, days to first pick, and yields.

Plan & order

  • Inventory and order seed2 sowings: Jan 18 and Jan 25

    Sort what you already have, toss anything over 3 years old, and order early while varieties are in stock. Sowing again a few weeks later keeps the harvest coming instead of arriving all at once.

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