One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 common way of making a decision about when to plant sunflowers is to check out the USDA zone info for Rittman.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant sunflowers until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Rittman 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rittman. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rittman is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rittman last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rittman

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Rittman

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