One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant veronica is to check out the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge.

Planting Calendar for Veronica

Frost tolerance for veronica:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since veronica do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant veronica 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 veronica and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your veronica may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your veronica indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Dodge. It might get as low as -20°F during 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Dodge you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your veronica 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.