When to Plant Celery in Charles City, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Charles City can be read to determine when to plant celery.


Planting Calendar for Celery

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

Since celery are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant celery in Charles City 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 celery and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your celery may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your celery indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charles City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Charles City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charles City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your celery if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charles City

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 Charles City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charles City.