One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Rock Falls you can determine when it's the best time to plant amaranthus by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

Frost tolerance for amaranthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since amaranthus require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in Rock Falls 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 amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your amaranthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rock Falls is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rock Falls it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your amaranthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rock Falls

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 Rock Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rock Falls.