Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant nicotiana by using the USDA zone info for Ankeny.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

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

Since nicotiana require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your nicotiana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ankeny is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ankeny you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nicotiana 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.