When to Plant Dracaena in Schenectady, NY

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Schenectady you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dracaena by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Dracaena

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

Since dracaena are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant dracaena in Schenectady 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 dracaena and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dracaena may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dracaena indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Schenectady 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 Schenectady you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your dracaena if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Schenectady

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Schenectady

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