One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant iberis is to use the USDA zone info for South Beloit.

Planting Calendar for Iberis

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

Iberis do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant iberis in South Beloit 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 iberis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iberis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your iberis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Beloit. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Beloit is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in South Beloit it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your iberis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Beloit

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 South Beloit

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Beloit.