When to Plant Larkspur in Iowa City, IA

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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Iowa City it's possible to determine when you can plant larkspur.

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Planting Calendar for Larkspur

Frost tolerance for larkspur: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant larkspur a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Iowa City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your larkspur if you have one of those late frosts.

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.