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 USDA zone info for Southgate can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant petunias.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Petunias tend to make it in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Southgate is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Southgate may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Southgate it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your petunias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Southgate

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 Southgate

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