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

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant geranium by using the USDA zone info for Rome.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant geranium until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Rome is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your geranium may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your geranium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rome the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rome and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Rome you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your geranium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rome

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rome

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