When to Plant Pennyroyal in Altoona, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Altoona can be read to estimate when you can plant pennyroyal.


Planting Calendar for Pennyroyal

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

Pennyroyal are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant pennyroyal in Altoona 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 pennyroyal and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pennyroyal may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pennyroyal indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Altoona and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Altoona you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pennyroyal if you have a 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.