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

The USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant impatiens.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant impatiens until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant impatiens 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your impatiens may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your impatiens indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of 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 last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your impatiens if you have 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.