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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Rochelle it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant tithonia.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since tithonia are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Rochelle is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tithonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rochelle. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochelle is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochelle you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tithonia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochelle

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 Rochelle

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