Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden 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 it's a good idea to plant rudbeckia by looking at the USDA zone info for Dayton.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

Frost tolerance for rudbeckia:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant rudbeckia a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Dayton 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 rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your rudbeckia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dayton the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dayton 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 Dayton you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Dayton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dayton.