When to Plant Sunflowers in Appleton, WI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant sunflowers by checking out the USDA zone info for Appleton.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

You really shouldn't plant sunflowers until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Appleton 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Appleton. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Appleton is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Appleton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Appleton

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 Appleton

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