One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant peonies is to use the USDA zone info for Cedar Lake.

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 Cedar Lake 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cedar Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cedar Lake may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cedar Lake there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your peonies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Lake

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 Cedar Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Lake.