One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant celosia by looking at the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

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

You should not plant celosia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

In Rochester the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your celosia if you have a late frost.

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.