When to Plant Clover in Charles City, 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant clover by reviewing the USDA zone info for Charles City.


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.

Clover do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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 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 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Charles City. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Charles City and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charles City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your clover in the event of 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.