When to Plant Sunflowers in Pawtucket, RI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant sunflowers in Pawtucket can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed 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 Pawtucket 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Pawtucket. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Pawtucket and it is different every year. Half of the time in Pawtucket there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your sunflowers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pawtucket

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Pawtucket

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