One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant phlox by looking at the USDA zone info for Bismarck.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Bismarck is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant phlox and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Bismarck the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bismarck is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bismarck you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your phlox in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bismarck

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Bismarck

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bismarck.