One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when to plant rudbeckia by reviewing the USDA zone info for Bellingham.

Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

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

Rudbeckia are moderately cold tolerant 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 Bellingham 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 really do well. Starting your rudbeckia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bellingham. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Bellingham is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bellingham there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your rudbeckia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bellingham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Bellingham

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