One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 estimate when to plant stoneseed by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stoneseed

Frost tolerance for stoneseed:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant stoneseed 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 stoneseed and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stoneseed may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your stoneseed indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ames the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Ames may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ames there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your stoneseed 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.