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.

The best time to plant rudbeckia in Hampshire can be figured out by checking out 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 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 Hampshire 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. Starting your rudbeckia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hampshire. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hampshire is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hampshire there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your rudbeckia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hampshire

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 Hampshire

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