One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant coreopsis is to use the USDA zone info for Big Lake.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Coreopsis tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Big Lake 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your coreopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Big Lake the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Big Lake and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Big Lake it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your coreopsis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Big Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Lake.