When to Plant Black Eyed Susans in Rochester, MN

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 first opportunity to plant black eyed susans in Rochester can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Black Eyed Susans do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant black eyed susans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant black eyed susans
Probably not a good time to plant black eyed susans

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

The last month that you can plant black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black eyed susans may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your black eyed susans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Rochester. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your black eyed susans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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