One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant lantana is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rapid City.

Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You should not plant lantana until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lantana in Rapid City is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lantana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lantana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lantana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rapid City. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rapid City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rapid City there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lantana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rapid City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rapid City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rapid City.