One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant eggplants in Traverse City should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Eggplants are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Traverse City 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your eggplants indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Traverse City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Traverse City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Traverse City last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your eggplants if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Traverse City

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 Traverse City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Traverse City.