When to Plant Napa Valley Fern in Altoona, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant napa valley fern is to refer to the USDA zone info for Altoona.


Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

Frost tolerance for napa valley fern: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Since napa valley fern are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant napa valley fern
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant napa valley fern
Probably not a good time to plant napa valley fern

The earliest that you can plant napa valley fern 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 napa valley fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your napa valley fern may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your napa valley fern indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Altoona. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Altoona may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Altoona it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your napa valley fern if you have 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.