When to Plant Sunflowers in Iron Mountain, MI

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Iron Mountain can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Iron Mountain is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Iron Mountain the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Iron Mountain and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Iron Mountain it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iron Mountain

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Iron Mountain

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iron Mountain.