When to Plant Sunflowers in Auburn, WA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Auburn should be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant sunflowers.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sunflowers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sunflowers
Probably not a good time to plant sunflowers

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Auburn 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 really do well. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Auburn the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Auburn is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Auburn last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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