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 figuring out when it's the best time to plant peonies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Franklin Lakes.

Planting Calendar for Peonies

Frost tolerance for peonies:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since peonies are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Franklin Lakes 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 peonies and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your peonies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Franklin Lakes. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Franklin Lakes may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Franklin Lakes there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your peonies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin Lakes

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin Lakes

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Franklin Lakes.