One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 first chance to plant lobelia in Rochester can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lobelia 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 Rochester. It might get as low as -10°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 will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lobelia if you have one of those late frosts.

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.