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.

You will be able to determine when you can plant peonies by looking at the USDA zone info for Salem.

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 tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Salem 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. 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

In Salem the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your peonies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Salem

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