When to Plant Digitalis in Iowa City, IA

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

The first chance to plant digitalis in Iowa City can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Digitalis

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

Digitalis are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant digitalis 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 digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your digitalis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your digitalis indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Iowa City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your digitalis if you have a 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.