One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of determining when it's the best time to plant rudbeckia is to examine the USDA zone info for Monroe.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Rudbeckia do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Monroe 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 rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your rudbeckia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Monroe. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Monroe and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Monroe there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Monroe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Monroe

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