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 determine when it's possible to plant peonies by referring to the USDA zone info for Douglas.

Planting Calendar for Peonies

Frost tolerance for peonies:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Peonies can survive in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Douglas is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Douglas. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Douglas and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Douglas it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your peonies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Douglas

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 Douglas

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