The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Dowagiac should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's a good idea to plant roses.

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 moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Dowagiac 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. If you wait any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your roses indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dowagiac. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dowagiac is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dowagiac you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your roses in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dowagiac

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 Dowagiac

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