When to Plant Roses in Zone 6b

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Zone 6b you can estimate when to plant roses by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Roses do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier 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 6b 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your roses indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 6b. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6b is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 6b you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your roses in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6b.