One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Benicia you will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant rudbeckia.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Rudbeckia are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Benicia 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. If you wait any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Benicia. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benicia is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Benicia you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benicia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Benicia

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