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.

The first chance to plant creeping zinnia in Des Moines can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Zinnia

Frost tolerance for creeping zinnia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since creeping zinnia are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Des Moines. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Moines is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your creeping zinnia if you have a late frost.

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.