One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake it's a good idea to figure out when you can plant coreopsis.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

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

Coreopsis are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Spirit Lake is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your coreopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Spirit Lake. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Spirit Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your coreopsis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spirit Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Spirit Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Spirit Lake.