One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant balloon flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Anamosa.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since balloon flower are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Anamosa is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Anamosa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Anamosa you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Anamosa

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 Anamosa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Anamosa.