One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The first opportunity to plant mustard in Ames can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant mustard until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ames. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ames and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ames it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mustard if you have a 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.