One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant sunflowers in Rutland can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

It's not a good idea to plant sunflowers until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Rutland 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 fully mature. If you are starting your sunflowers 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 April 15 in Rutland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rutland is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rutland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rutland

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 Rutland

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