Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 periwinkles in Rochester should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

Frost tolerance for periwinkles:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since periwinkles require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Rochester is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your periwinkles indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rochester may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your periwinkles in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.