One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant peonies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Fort Meade.

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.

Since peonies are barely cold tolerant 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 Fort Meade 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. If you wait any later than that and your peonies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Fort Meade. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Meade is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Meade last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your peonies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Meade

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 Fort Meade

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Meade.