One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant garden orache in Des Moines can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Orache

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

You can plant garden orache a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden orache 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 garden orache and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garden orache may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your garden orache indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Des Moines the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Moines is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your garden orache 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.