When to Plant Skullcap in Clear Lake, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening 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 Clear Lake should be used to estimate when you can plant skullcap.


Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since skullcap do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant skullcap in Clear Lake 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your skullcap may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your skullcap indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clear Lake. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Clear Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Clear Lake there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your skullcap if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Clear Lake

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 Clear Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Clear Lake.