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

It's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant cosmos by looking at the USDA zone info for International Falls.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

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

Since cosmos do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in International Falls 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 cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cosmos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in International Falls. You can expect an average low temperature of -40°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for International Falls may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in International Falls it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cosmos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for International Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-40°F
Highest Expected Low	-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in International Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for International Falls.