One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Council Bluffs you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant cerastium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

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

Since cerastium are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant cerastium 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 cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cerastium may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cerastium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Council Bluffs the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Council Bluffs there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cerastium if you have 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.