One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant abutilon is to look at the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge.

Planting Calendar for Abutilon

Frost tolerance for abutilon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant abutilon until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant abutilon in Fort Dodge 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 abutilon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your abutilon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your abutilon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Dodge. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Fort Dodge may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your abutilon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

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 Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.