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.

In River Rouge you can determine when it's the best time to plant pumpkins by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in River Rouge 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in River Rouge. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for River Rouge is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in River Rouge you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for River Rouge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in River Rouge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for River Rouge.