Zone 5b planting calendar

What to plant in September: zone 5b

Zone 5b averages its last spring frost around May 5 and its first fall frost around October 5. Everything below is timed from those two dates, so it stays useful whether you're planting for summer or for a fall harvest.

These are zone-average dates. Check an area-level frost estimate from thirty years of nearby weather history and this calendar retimes itself.

Last frost: May 5

First frost: October 5

Winter lows: -15 to -10 °F

Zone 5b Almanac. What growers here actually recorded: sowing weeks, days to first pick, and yields.

Direct sow for fall

Radisharound Sep 2
Succession sowing 2 of 3. Sow every 14 days for a steady cut.
Spinacharound Sep 6
Counts back 40 days from your first frost. Frost-hardy: light freezes sweeten it.
Radisharound Sep 16
Counts back 30 days from your first frost. Frost-hardy: light freezes sweeten it.

Sow cover crop

Cover crop (cereal rye + crimson clover)around Sep 5
Sown a month before frost it germinates, holds your soil all winter, and feeds it in spring.

Plant to overwinter

Garlicaround Sep 21
Cloves go in about two weeks before first frost. They root now, sleep, then bulb next summer.

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