One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant sedum by referring to the USDA zone info for Ames.

Planting Calendar for Sedum

Frost tolerance for sedum:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant sedum a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ames and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ames it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your sedum 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.