Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Aurora you can determine when it's a good idea to plant matricaria by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Matricaria

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

Since matricaria are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant matricaria in Aurora 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 matricaria and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your matricaria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your matricaria indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Aurora is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Aurora you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your matricaria in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aurora

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 Aurora

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