The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant cerastium in Iowa City should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

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

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

The earliest that you can plant cerastium in Iowa City 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 cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cerastium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cerastium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Iowa City. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Iowa City and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cerastium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.