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.

The USDA zone info for Fort Dodge can be used to determine when to plant pansies.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

You can plant pansies earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pansies 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pansies indoors.

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 you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pansies in the event of a 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.