frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Bleeding Hearts in Fort Dodge, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant bleeding hearts in Fort Dodge by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

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

Since bleeding hearts are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Fort Dodge 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 bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bleeding hearts indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Dodge the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fort Dodge is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bleeding hearts in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

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 Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.