Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 festuca in Rochester should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

Frost tolerance for festuca:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Festuca are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant festuca 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

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.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rochester and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Rochester it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your festuca 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.