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 first opportunity to plant maltese cross in Rock Falls can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

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

Since maltese cross are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in Rock Falls 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 maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your maltese cross may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your maltese cross indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rock Falls is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rock Falls it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your maltese cross 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.