The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant cleome is to examine the USDA zone info for Michigan City.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant cleome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Michigan City 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Michigan City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Michigan City is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Michigan City you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Michigan City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Michigan City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Michigan City.