When to Plant Four O' Clock in Altoona, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Altoona should be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant four o' clock.


Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant four o' clock until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant four o' clock
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant four o' clock
Probably not a good time to plant four o' clock

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Altoona is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your four o' clock 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 Altoona. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Altoona it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your four o' clock in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

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 Altoona

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Altoona.