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 first opportunity to plant sweet williams in Big Rapids should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Williams

Frost tolerance for sweet williams:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant sweet williams a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet williams 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 sweet williams and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your sweet williams may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your sweet williams indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Big Rapids and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Big Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet williams in the event of 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.