One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Rockford you should be able to determine when to plant gazania.

Planting Calendar for Gazania

Frost tolerance for gazania:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since gazania are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gazania in Rockford is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gazania and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gazania may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gazania indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rockford. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rockford is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rockford there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gazania in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.