One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant creeping phlox by reviewing the USDA zone info for Merrill.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

Frost tolerance for creeping phlox:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Creeping Phlox are very cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Merrill 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your creeping phlox may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your creeping phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Merrill. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Merrill is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Merrill last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your creeping phlox in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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