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.

You will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant matricaria by reviewing the USDA zone info for Rock Island.

Planting Calendar for Matricaria

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

You can plant matricaria a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant matricaria 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 matricaria and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your matricaria may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your matricaria 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 Island. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rock Island is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rock Island you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your matricaria 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.