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.

The first opportunity to plant broccoli in Cedar Rapids should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

Frost tolerance for broccoli:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant broccoli a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Cedar Rapids 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your broccoli may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your broccoli indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cedar Rapids 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 Cedar Rapids is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cedar Rapids you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your broccoli in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Rapids

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 Cedar Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Rapids.