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

It's possible to figure out when you can plant rhubarb by using the USDA zone info for Salem.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

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

The earliest that you can plant rhubarb in Salem 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rhubarb may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your rhubarb indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Salem is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your rhubarb in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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