When to Plant Saxifraga in Zone 5a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Zone 5a you can determine when it's a good idea to plant saxifraga by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Saxifraga

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

Saxifraga do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant saxifraga in Zone 5a 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 saxifraga and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your saxifraga may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your saxifraga indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Zone 5a. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5a and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your saxifraga if you have a surprise late frost.

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.