When to Plant Rudbeckia in Erie, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden 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 Erie should be reviewed to determine when it's the best time to plant rudbeckia.


Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Since rudbeckia are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant rudbeckia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant rudbeckia
Probably not a good time to plant rudbeckia

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Erie 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your rudbeckia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Erie there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rudbeckia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Erie

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