One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant impatiens is to use the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since impatiens are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your impatiens in the event of a surprise 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.