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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Maquoketa it's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant rosemary.

Planting Calendar for Rosemary

Frost tolerance for rosemary:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Rosemary do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rosemary in Maquoketa 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 rosemary and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your rosemary may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your rosemary indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Maquoketa. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Maquoketa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Maquoketa last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your rosemary if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Maquoketa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Maquoketa

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