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

A way of determining when to plant rhubarb is to consult the USDA zone info for South Bend.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

You can plant rhubarb a little 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 rhubarb in South Bend 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rhubarb may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your rhubarb indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in South Bend. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Bend may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in South Bend it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your rhubarb in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in South Bend

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