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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant flowering tobacco is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Tobacco

Frost tolerance for flowering tobacco:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant flowering tobacco until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant flowering tobacco in Rochester is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flowering tobacco and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your flowering tobacco may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your flowering tobacco indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your flowering tobacco in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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