Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Benton Harbor can be read to determine when to plant strawflowers.

Planting Calendar for Strawflowers

Frost tolerance for strawflowers:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since strawflowers are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant strawflowers in Benton Harbor 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 strawflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your strawflowers may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your strawflowers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Benton Harbor. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benton Harbor and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Benton Harbor you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your strawflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Benton Harbor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Benton Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Benton Harbor.