One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can estimate when to plant cleome in Pontiac by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant cleome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Pontiac 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Pontiac may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Pontiac you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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