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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant rudbeckia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Milliken.

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 frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your rudbeckia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Milliken. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Milliken may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Milliken you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rudbeckia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Milliken

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Milliken

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