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.

In Des Moines you can determine when you can plant hemerocallis by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hemerocallis

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

Since hemerocallis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hemerocallis 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 hemerocallis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your hemerocallis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hemerocallis indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on 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 not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Des Moines there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your hemerocallis in the event of 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.