One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of determining when to plant rudbeckia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Mahomet.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Rudbeckia tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Mahomet 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. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your rudbeckia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mahomet. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mahomet is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mahomet there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rudbeckia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mahomet

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 Mahomet

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