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.

The first chance to plant sunflowers in Atwater should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Atwater 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Atwater. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Atwater is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Atwater you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sunflowers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Atwater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Atwater

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