When to Plant Calibrachoa in Cedar Rapids, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 calibrachoa in Cedar Rapids can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calibrachoa

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

Calibrachoa are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant calibrachoa
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant calibrachoa
Probably not a good time to plant calibrachoa

The earliest that you can plant calibrachoa in Cedar Rapids 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 calibrachoa and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calibrachoa may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calibrachoa 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 Cedar Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Cedar Rapids last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your calibrachoa in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.