One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant roses is to examine the USDA zone info for Douglas.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Roses do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Douglas 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your roses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your roses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Douglas. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Douglas may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost 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 always be ready to cover your roses if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Douglas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Douglas

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