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

By using the USDA zone info for Ames you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant digitalis.

Planting Calendar for Digitalis

Frost tolerance for digitalis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Digitalis do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant digitalis in Ames 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 digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your digitalis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your digitalis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ames may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ames you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your digitalis 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.