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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant millet in Rockford by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Millet

Frost tolerance for millet:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant millet until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

The last month that you can plant millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your millet indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rockford. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rockford is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rockford last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your millet in the event of a 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.