The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 possible to plant rudbeckia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Kalamazoo.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Rudbeckia do well in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Kalamazoo 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 rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Kalamazoo. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Kalamazoo is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Kalamazoo it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kalamazoo

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 Kalamazoo

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