One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Lakeport should be read to determine when it's the best time to plant sunflowers.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

You really shouldn't plant sunflowers until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Lakeport 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lakeport the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lakeport is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lakeport there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your sunflowers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lakeport

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 Lakeport

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