The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Des Moines you can determine when it's possible to plant digitalis by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Digitalis

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

You can plant digitalis a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant digitalis in Des Moines 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 digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your digitalis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your digitalis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Des Moines the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

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 make sure that you are prepared to protect your digitalis in the event of 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.