One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Decorah it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant santolina.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

Frost tolerance for santolina:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since santolina are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Decorah is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant santolina and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your santolina may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your santolina indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Decorah the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Decorah and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Decorah you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your santolina if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Decorah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Decorah

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Decorah.