One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant black eyed susans is to look at the USDA zone info for Manistee.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since black eyed susans do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Manistee 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black eyed susans may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your black eyed susans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Manistee the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Manistee and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manistee there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your black eyed susans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manistee

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 Manistee

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