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

The USDA zone info for Ankeny can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant hamelia.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Hamelia are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Ankeny 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hamelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hamelia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ankeny. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ankeny may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ankeny last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your hamelia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ankeny

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 Ankeny

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