Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Swarthmore you can estimate when it's the best time to plant sunflowers by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Swarthmore 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. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Swarthmore. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Swarthmore may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Swarthmore last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Swarthmore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Swarthmore

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