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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant rudbeckia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Brownsville.

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 just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Brownsville is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rudbeckia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Brownsville the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Brownsville and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Brownsville you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your rudbeckia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brownsville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Brownsville

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