One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant polygonums is to check out the USDA zone info for Petoskey.

Planting Calendar for Polygonums

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

It's a bad idea to plant polygonums until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant polygonums in Petoskey 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 polygonums and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your polygonums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your polygonums indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Petoskey the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Petoskey 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 Petoskey you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your polygonums in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Petoskey

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 Petoskey

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