Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant ageratum in Fort Dodge can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Ageratum

Frost tolerance for ageratum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant ageratum until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant ageratum 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 ageratum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ageratum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your ageratum 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 Fort Dodge. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your ageratum 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.