One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Bay City can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant tropical water plants.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since tropical water plants require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Bay City 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tropical water plants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tropical water plants 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 Bay City. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Bay City is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bay City there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tropical water plants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bay City

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 Bay City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay City.