One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant arctotis in Council Bluffs can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Arctotis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Council Bluffs. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Council Bluffs last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arctotis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Council Bluffs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Council Bluffs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Council Bluffs.