When to Plant Begonias in Harlan, IA

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.

The USDA zone info for Harlan should be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant begonias.


Planting Calendar for Begonias

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant begonias until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Harlan 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your begonias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harlan. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Harlan is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Harlan there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your begonias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harlan

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 Harlan

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