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.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant rudbeckia is to check out the USDA zone info for Bell.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

Frost tolerance for rudbeckia:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Rudbeckia do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Bell is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your rudbeckia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Bell. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bell is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bell you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rudbeckia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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