One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant lenten rose is to examine the USDA zone info for Rome.

Planting Calendar for Lenten Rose

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

Lenten Rose do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lenten rose in Rome 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 lenten rose and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lenten rose may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your lenten rose indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rome the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rome may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rome you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lenten rose if you have a 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.