One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Forest Lake you can estimate when it's the best time to plant black eyed susans by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since black eyed susans require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Forest Lake is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black eyed susans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Forest Lake. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Forest Lake is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest Lake you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your black eyed susans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest 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 Forest Lake

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