One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant sunflowers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Macomb.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since sunflowers require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Macomb the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Macomb and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Macomb it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your sunflowers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Macomb

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Macomb

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