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.

The USDA zone info for Rockford can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant monkey flower.

Planting Calendar for Monkey Flower

Frost tolerance for monkey flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant monkey flower until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant monkey flower in Rockford is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monkey flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your monkey flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your monkey flower indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rockford. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rockford and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rockford last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your monkey flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockford

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 Rockford

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rockford.