One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for East Lansing it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant thunbergia.

Planting Calendar for Thunbergia

Frost tolerance for thunbergia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since thunbergia require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In East Lansing the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for East Lansing is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in East Lansing last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your thunbergia in the event of a surprise 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.