When to Plant Sunflowers in Lewistown, MT

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to estimate when you can plant sunflowers by using the USDA zone info for Lewistown.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant sunflowers until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sunflowers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sunflowers
Probably not a good time to plant sunflowers

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Lewistown 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sunflowers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Lewistown. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lewistown and it is different every year. Half of the time in Lewistown you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your sunflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lewistown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Lewistown

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lewistown.