Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant cleome is to examine the USDA zone info for Dubuque.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant cleome until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Dubuque is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Dubuque. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dubuque is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Dubuque there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cleome if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dubuque

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Dubuque

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dubuque.