One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Arkansas City you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant sunflowers.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

It's 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 Arkansas 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 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Arkansas City. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Arkansas City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Arkansas City 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 Arkansas City

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 Low	0°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 Arkansas City

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