The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine 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 Milwaukee you should be able to figure out when it's the best time 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.

Peonies do well in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in Milwaukee 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peonies may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your peonies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Milwaukee. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Milwaukee is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Milwaukee it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your peonies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Milwaukee

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 Milwaukee

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