When to Plant Asparagus in Rochester, MI

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

The best time to plant asparagus in Rochester can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Asparagus

Frost tolerance for asparagus: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Asparagus do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant asparagus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant asparagus
Probably not a good time to plant asparagus

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Rochester 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your asparagus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochester. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rochester and it is different every year. Half of the time in Rochester last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your asparagus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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