When to Plant Sunflowers in Murphysboro, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant sunflowers by checking out the USDA zone info for Murphysboro.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Since sunflowers are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sunflowers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sunflowers
Probably not a good time to plant sunflowers

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Murphysboro 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Murphysboro. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Murphysboro and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Murphysboro there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Murphysboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Murphysboro

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