One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first opportunity to plant delphinium in Rochester should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Delphinium

Frost tolerance for delphinium:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Delphinium tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Rochester 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 delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your delphinium may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your delphinium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rochester. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your delphinium 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.