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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Des Moines it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant corn salad.

Planting Calendar for Corn salad

Frost tolerance for corn salad:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant corn salad until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant corn salad in Des Moines 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 corn salad and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your corn salad may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your corn salad indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Des Moines. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Moines is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Des Moines you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your corn salad if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Des Moines

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 Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Moines.