Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 to plant salpiglossis by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

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

It's a bad idea to plant salpiglossis until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ames may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ames last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your salpiglossis 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.