One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 Ames can be used to figure out when you can plant buddha belly plant.

Planting Calendar for Buddha belly plant

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

Since buddha belly plant do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Ames is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ames you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your buddha belly plant in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.