One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant peonies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Stockton.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Stockton 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 peonies and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peonies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your peonies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Stockton. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Stockton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Stockton last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your peonies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stockton

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 Stockton

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