When to Plant Caladium in Fort Madison, IA

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

By using the USDA zone info for Fort Madison it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant caladium.

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Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant caladium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant caladium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant caladium
Probably not a good time to plant caladium

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Fort Madison 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Madison. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Madison and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Madison there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your caladium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Madison

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Madison.