One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Ames you can determine when it's possible to plant lovage by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

You can plant lovage slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ames is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ames there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lovage if you have 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.