One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant rhubarb by checking out the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

Rhubarb do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rhubarb 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rhubarb may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your rhubarb indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your rhubarb in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.