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.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant skullcap by looking at the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since skullcap do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant skullcap 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your skullcap may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your skullcap indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Fort Dodge. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Fort Dodge is an average and 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 be sure to be ready to cover your skullcap if you have one of those late frosts.

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.