The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Rochester you can determine when to plant lavender by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Lavender do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lavender in Rochester is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lavender and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lavender may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lavender indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lavender if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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