The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant chrysanthemum is to consult the USDA zone info for Grinnell.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemum

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant chrysanthemum until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemum in Grinnell 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 chrysanthemum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chrysanthemum may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chrysanthemum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Grinnell. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grinnell may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Grinnell there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chrysanthemum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grinnell

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 Grinnell

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grinnell.