One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant xerianthemum by checking out the USDA zone info for Fort Madison.

Planting Calendar for Xerianthemum

Frost tolerance for xerianthemum:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since xerianthemum are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The last month that you can plant xerianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your xerianthemum may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your xerianthemum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fort Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your xerianthemum 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.