One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Dubuque you should be able to estimate when to plant scarlet pimpernels.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

Frost tolerance for scarlet pimpernels:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Scarlet Pimpernels do well in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant scarlet pimpernels and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your scarlet pimpernels may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your scarlet pimpernels indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Dubuque. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dubuque is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Dubuque it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your scarlet pimpernels in the event of a 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.