One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant monkey flower is to use the USDA zone info for Traverse City.

Planting Calendar for Monkey Flower

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

Since monkey flower require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant monkey flower 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 monkey flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your monkey flower may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your monkey flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Traverse City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Traverse City and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Traverse City there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your monkey flower in the event of a late frost.

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.