One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when you can plant rudbeckia in Portland by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rudbeckia in Portland 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rudbeckia may not have a chance to really do well. 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 February 15 in Portland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it is different every year. Half of the time in Portland last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your rudbeckia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Portland

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