One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Ottawa you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant fanflower.

Planting Calendar for Fanflower

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

Since fanflower require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fanflower in Ottawa 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 fanflower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fanflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your fanflower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ottawa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ottawa is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your fanflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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