When to Plant Rhubarb in De Witt, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when you can plant rhubarb by reviewing the USDA zone info for De Witt.


Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

You can plant rhubarb a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in De Witt. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for De Witt 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 De Witt it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your rhubarb if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for De Witt

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 De Witt

You may be interested in your other planting guides for De Witt.