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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Ames you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant dipladenia.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

Frost tolerance for dipladenia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Dipladenia require warm weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dipladenia 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 dipladenia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dipladenia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dipladenia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ames. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ames may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ames it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your dipladenia 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.