One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant tritoma by using the USDA zone info for Decorah.

Planting Calendar for Tritoma

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

Tritoma do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant tritoma 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 tritoma and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tritoma may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tritoma indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Decorah is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Decorah you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your tritoma if you have a late frost.

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.