When to Plant Sutera in Altoona, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant sutera is to refer to the USDA zone info for Altoona.


Planting Calendar for Sutera

Frost tolerance for sutera: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Sutera can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

The last month that you can plant sutera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sutera may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your sutera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Altoona. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Altoona there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your sutera 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.