When to Plant Clover in Cedar Rapids, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You will be able to determine when to plant clover by using the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids.


Planting Calendar for Clover

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

You can plant clover a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant clover 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 clover and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your clover may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your clover 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. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cedar Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your clover in the event of 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.