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

The USDA zone info for Ames should be used to figure out when it's possible to plant bower vine.

Planting Calendar for Bower Vine

Frost tolerance for bower vine:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You can not plant bower vine until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant bower vine in Ames 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 bower vine and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bower vine may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bower vine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ames the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ames and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ames it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your bower vine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ames

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 Ames

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