One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Sonoma should be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant roses.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Roses can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Sonoma 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your roses indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Sonoma. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sonoma may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sonoma you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your roses if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sonoma

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 Sonoma

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