The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 phlox in Houghton can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Houghton 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Houghton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Houghton is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Houghton last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

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.