When to Plant Sunflowers in Wake Forest, NC

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

The best time to plant sunflowers in Wake Forest can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Sunflowers are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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 Wake Forest 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to fully mature. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wake Forest. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wake Forest and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Wake Forest last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Wake Forest

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