When to Plant Larkspur in Cedar Rapids, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids should be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant larkspur.


Planting Calendar for Larkspur

Frost tolerance for larkspur: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant larkspur quite a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant larkspur 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your larkspur may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your larkspur indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cedar Rapids the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes 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 larkspur 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.