One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant black eyed susans is to examine the USDA zone info for Rockdale.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since black eyed susans are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Rockdale 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black eyed susans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your black eyed susans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Rockdale. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rockdale and it is different every year. Half of the time in Rockdale last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your black eyed susans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rockdale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Rockdale

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