The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant cleome is to consult the USDA zone info for Council Bluffs.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant cleome until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Council Bluffs 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Council Bluffs it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cleome 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.