When to Plant Daylily in East Lansing, MI

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for East Lansing you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant daylily.


Planting Calendar for Daylily

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

Since daylily are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant daylily
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant daylily
Probably not a good time to plant daylily

The earliest that you can plant daylily in East Lansing 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 daylily and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your daylily may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your daylily indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for East Lansing is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in East Lansing you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your daylily if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Lansing

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in East Lansing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Lansing.