When to Plant Peonies in Murphysboro, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when to plant peonies by referring to the USDA zone info for Murphysboro.


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.

You can plant peonies just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant peonies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant peonies
Probably not a good time to plant peonies

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Murphysboro 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 really do well. If you are starting your peonies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Murphysboro. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Murphysboro may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Murphysboro last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your peonies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Murphysboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Murphysboro

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