The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when to plant arabis by checking out the USDA zone info for Rockford.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rockford may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockford last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis if you have a surprise 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.