When to Plant Aubrieta in Sterling, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant aubrieta is to use the USDA zone info for Sterling.


Planting Calendar for Aubrieta

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

Since aubrieta do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant aubrieta
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant aubrieta
Probably not a good time to plant aubrieta

The earliest that you can plant aubrieta in Sterling 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 aubrieta and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your aubrieta may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your aubrieta indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sterling and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sterling you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your aubrieta in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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