One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rochester can be used to determine when you can plant hosta.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

You can plant hosta a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant hosta 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hosta may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hosta indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Rochester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rochester and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your hosta in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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