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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant iresene is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Iresene

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

Since iresene are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant iresene 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 iresene and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your iresene may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your iresene indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your iresene 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.