One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 getting a good idea when to plant phlox is to look at the USDA zone info for Alpena.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

Frost tolerance for phlox:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Phlox are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Alpena. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Alpena last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alpena

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 Alpena

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