When to Plant Peonies in Herndon, VA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Herndon should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant peonies.


Planting Calendar for Peonies

Frost tolerance for peonies: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since peonies are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

The last month that you can plant peonies and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your peonies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Herndon. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Herndon and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Herndon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your peonies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Herndon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Herndon

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