The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant rudbeckia is to consult the USDA zone info for Malibu.

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 moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Malibu 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Malibu. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Malibu and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Malibu last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your rudbeckia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Malibu

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 Malibu

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