One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant black eyed susans in West Salem by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant black eyed susans until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in West Salem is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black eyed susans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In West Salem the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for West Salem may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in West Salem there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your black eyed susans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Salem

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Salem.