One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant canna by checking out the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids.

Planting Calendar for Canna

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

You can not plant canna until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant canna in Cedar Rapids 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 canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your canna 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 just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cedar Rapids there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your canna if you have a 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.