The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant arabis by looking at the USDA zone info for Rock Island.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Arabis are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Rock Island 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rock Island. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rock Island may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rock Island it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your arabis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rock Island

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 Island

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