One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant black eyed susans is to use the USDA zone info for Whiting.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since black eyed susans do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Whiting 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your black eyed susans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Whiting. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Whiting and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Whiting there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your black eyed susans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Whiting

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 Whiting

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