When to Plant Sunflowers in Youngstown, OH

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Youngstown it's a good idea to determine when to plant sunflowers.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost 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 Youngstown 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Youngstown the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Youngstown is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Youngstown you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Youngstown

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 Youngstown

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