When to Plant Lenten Rose in Zone 5a

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 USDA zone info for Zone 5a can be reviewed to figure out when you can plant lenten rose.


Planting Calendar for Lenten Rose

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

You can plant lenten rose a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant lenten rose in Zone 5a 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 lenten rose and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lenten rose may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lenten rose indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5a and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your lenten rose in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.