When to Plant Begonias in Saranac Lake, NY

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Saranac Lake it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant begonias.


Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Begonias are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Saranac Lake is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your begonias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Saranac Lake the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Saranac Lake is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Saranac Lake you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your begonias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Saranac Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Saranac Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Saranac Lake.