One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Houghton you can figure out when you can plant calliopsis by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant calliopsis until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Houghton 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your calliopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Houghton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Houghton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Houghton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your calliopsis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houghton

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 Houghton

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