One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 Big Rapids should be used to estimate when you can plant aubretia.

Planting Calendar for Aubretia

Frost tolerance for aubretia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Aubretia are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant aubretia in Big Rapids is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant aubretia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your aubretia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your aubretia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Big Rapids the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Rapids is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Big Rapids it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your aubretia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Rapids.