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 should be able to determine when you can plant pansies by referring to the USDA zone info for Rock Island.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

Pansies do well in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pansies 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rock Island. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rock Island and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rock Island it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your pansies 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.