One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant roses in State College can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Since roses do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in State College. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for State College and it is different every year. Half of the time in State College last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your roses in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for State College

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in State College

You may be interested in your other planting guides for State College.