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 first opportunity to plant impatiens in Grand Rapids should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since impatiens require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant impatiens in Grand Rapids 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your impatiens may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your impatiens indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Grand Rapids. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Grand Rapids last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your impatiens in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Rapids

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