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.

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

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

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

Arctotis do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your arctotis indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

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 changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rock Island you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your arctotis in the event of a 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.