The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when you can plant myosotis is to examine the USDA zone info for Ames.

Planting Calendar for Myosotis

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

Since myosotis are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant myosotis 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 myosotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your myosotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your myosotis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ames. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ames and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ames you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your myosotis in the event of 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.