One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant sunflowers by using the USDA zone info for Magnolia.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant sunflowers until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Magnolia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Magnolia is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Magnolia it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Magnolia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Magnolia

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