Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant peonies is to check out the USDA zone info for Monticello.

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 barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Monticello is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant peonies and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peonies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Monticello. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Monticello is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Monticello you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your peonies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Monticello

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