When to plant strawberries in zone 6b

The zone 6b schedule for strawberries

Plant out

March 12 to 26

First harvest, roughly

June 10 to July 14

From the median frost dates of the NOAA stations assigned to the 4,514 ZIP codes in zone 6b, 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 6b

Zones are based on winter cold, not on frost dates, so the last spring frost varies a lot within a zone. Across zone 6b, the typical last frost ranges from about April 10 in the earliest tenth of ZIP codes to May 6 in the latest tenth, and the first fall frost from October 9 to October 29. For a typical place in the zone:

• April 8Risky: a later frost happens in 9 years out of 10
• April 23Typical: frost after this date in half of years
• May 9Safe: a later frost only 1 year in 10

Strawberries in zone 6b cities