When to Plant Verbena in Rochester, NY

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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Rochester you should be able to determine when to plant verbena.


Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

Verbena can survive in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant verbena
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant verbena
Probably not a good time to plant verbena

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rochester may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your verbena 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.