One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when you can plant sunflowers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Fort Stockton.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

You really shouldn't plant sunflowers until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Fort Stockton 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. If you wait 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 has passed is on March 15 in Fort Stockton. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Fort Stockton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Stockton you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your sunflowers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Stockton

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 Fort Stockton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Stockton.