When to Plant Roses in Zone 3b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 3b should be read to determine when it's the best time to plant roses.


Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Since roses are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant roses in Zone 3b 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your roses indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Zone 3b. You should expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 3b is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 3b there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your roses if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-35°F
Highest Expected Low-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3b.