One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Valley Center can be reviewed to estimate when you can 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.

Peonies can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Valley Center 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. Any later than that and your peonies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Valley Center. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valley Center is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Valley Center last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your peonies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valley Center

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 Valley Center

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Valley Center.