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

The USDA zone info for Steger should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant peonies.

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.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Steger 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Steger. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Steger may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Steger you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your peonies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Steger

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 Steger

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