One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 to plant pincushion flower by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

Since pincushion flower do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pincushion flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Des Moines and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Moines you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pincushion flower if you have a surprise 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.