When to Plant Pampas Grass in Independence, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Independence should be reffered to in order to figure out when you can plant pampas grass.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

Pampas Grass are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Independence the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Independence there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pampas grass in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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