One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for La Crescent can be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant peonies.

Planting Calendar for Peonies

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

Peonies can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in La Crescent 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 peonies and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peonies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in La Crescent. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for La Crescent is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in La Crescent last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your peonies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Crescent

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in La Crescent

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crescent.