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

In Fort Dodge you can determine when to plant lobelia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia do ok in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Fort Dodge is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lobelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge is not always accurate 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 always be ready to cover your lobelia if you have 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.