Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when to plant peonies in West Salem by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies in West Salem is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. Starting your peonies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in West Salem. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Salem and it is different every year. Half of the time in West Salem there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your peonies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Salem

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Salem.