One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant doronicum is to examine the USDA zone info for Herkimer.

Planting Calendar for Doronicum

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

You can plant doronicum a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant doronicum in Herkimer 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 doronicum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your doronicum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your doronicum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Herkimer is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Herkimer it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your doronicum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Herkimer

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 Herkimer

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