One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant roses by referring to the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Roses

Frost tolerance for roses:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Roses do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Waterloo 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your roses indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Waterloo the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Waterloo is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Waterloo last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your roses if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

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 Low	0°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 Waterloo

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