One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Dawson it's possible to estimate 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 all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant sunflowers until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Dawson 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. If you wait any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Dawson. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Dawson is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dawson last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dawson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Dawson

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