One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant sunflowers is to use the USDA zone info for Nappanee.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

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

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Nappanee 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. Starting your sunflowers 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 Nappanee. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Nappanee is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Nappanee it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nappanee

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 Nappanee

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