The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening 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 determine when you can plant rudbeckia by using the USDA zone info for Freeport.

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 bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Freeport 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Freeport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Freeport is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Freeport you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Freeport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Freeport

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