One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant tarragon is to check out the USDA zone info for Rockford.

Planting Calendar for Tarragon

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

Since tarragon are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant tarragon 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 tarragon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tarragon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tarragon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockford there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tarragon 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.