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

By using the USDA zone info for Sturgis you should be able to determine when to plant arabis.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Arabis do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Sturgis is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Sturgis. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sturgis is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Sturgis last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your arabis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sturgis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sturgis

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