When to Plant Chamomile in Iowa City, IA

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

The best time to plant chamomile in Iowa City should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Chamomile

Frost tolerance for chamomile: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Chamomile are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant chamomile in Iowa City is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chamomile and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chamomile may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chamomile indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Iowa City is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chamomile if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

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 Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.