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.

In Traverse City you can determine when it's a good idea to plant sutera by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sutera

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

Sutera are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sutera in Traverse City 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 sutera and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sutera may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your sutera 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 Traverse City. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Traverse City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Traverse City last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your sutera if you have 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.