When to Plant Polygonums in Ann Arbor, MI

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.

The USDA zone info for Ann Arbor can be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant polygonums.


Planting Calendar for Polygonums

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

Polygonums are not cold tolerant which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant polygonums 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 polygonums and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your polygonums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your polygonums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ann Arbor the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ann Arbor and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ann Arbor it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your polygonums if you have one of those late frosts.

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.