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.

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Benton Harbor should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant zucchini until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Benton Harbor 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zucchini indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Benton Harbor the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benton Harbor is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Benton Harbor it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your zucchini if you have a surprise late frost.

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.