When to plant strawberries in zone 4b

The zone 4b schedule for strawberries

Plant out

March 27 to April 10

First harvest, roughly

June 25 to July 29

From the median frost dates of the NOAA stations assigned to the 1,164 ZIP codes in zone 4b, and the timing recommended by Cooperative Extension guides for strawberries.

Dates before the last frost assume the soil has thawed and is dry enough to work: a squeezed handful crumbles instead of sticking. After a late or wet spring, wait for that even if the date has passed.

Frost risk in zone 4b

Zones are based on winter cold, not on frost dates, so the last spring frost varies a lot within a zone. Across zone 4b, the typical last frost ranges from about May 1 in the earliest tenth of ZIP codes to May 25 in the latest tenth, and the first fall frost from September 22 to October 8. For a typical place in the zone:

• April 26Risky: a later frost happens in 9 years out of 10
• May 8Typical: frost after this date in half of years
• May 22Safe: a later frost only 1 year in 10

Strawberries in zone 4b cities