When to Plant Impatiens in Ann Arbor, MI

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 using the USDA zone info for Ann Arbor it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant impatiens.


Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Impatiens are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant impatiens
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant impatiens
Probably not a good time to plant impatiens

The earliest that you can plant impatiens in Ann Arbor 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your impatiens may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your impatiens indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ann Arbor may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ann Arbor you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your impatiens if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ann Arbor

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 Ann Arbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ann Arbor.