One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant black eyed susans by looking at the USDA zone info for Sumter.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since black eyed susans require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Sumter 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black eyed susans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your black eyed susans 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 March 15 in Sumter. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sumter and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sumter last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your black eyed susans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sumter

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