The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 estimating when to plant sunflowers is to look at the USDA zone info for Stafford.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Since sunflowers require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Stafford. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Stafford is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Stafford last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Stafford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Stafford

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