One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for Fort Dodge can be looked at to figure out when to plant four-o-clock flower.

Planting Calendar for Four-o-clock flower

Frost tolerance for four-o-clock flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant four-o-clock flower until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant four-o-clock flower 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 four-o-clock flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your four-o-clock flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your four-o-clock flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your four-o-clock flower 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.