Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant sunflowers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Kaplan.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Since sunflowers are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Kaplan is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Kaplan. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Kaplan and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Kaplan it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kaplan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Kaplan

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