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.

In Steamboat Springs you can determine when it's possible to plant rudbeckia by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

You can plant rudbeckia a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

The last month that you can plant rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Steamboat Springs the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Steamboat Springs is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Steamboat Springs it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your rudbeckia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Steamboat Springs

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 Steamboat Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Steamboat Springs.