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

The USDA zone info for Rockford can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant strawberries.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

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

Strawberries do well in cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your strawberries indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rockford is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockford there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your strawberries 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.