One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Detroit.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Detroit 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Detroit. 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 not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Detroit and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Detroit there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Detroit

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 Detroit

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Detroit.