One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant roses is to look at the USDA zone info for Kalamazoo.

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 means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Kalamazoo 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. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your roses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Kalamazoo. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Kalamazoo and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Kalamazoo you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your roses in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kalamazoo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Kalamazoo

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