Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant coreopsis by reviewing the USDA zone info for Decatur.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

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

Since coreopsis do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Decatur 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your coreopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Decatur. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Decatur may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your coreopsis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

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 Decatur

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