When to Plant Plectranthus in Iowa City, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Iowa City can be read to figure out when it's possible to plant plectranthus.


Planting Calendar for Plectranthus

Frost tolerance for plectranthus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since plectranthus are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant plectranthus in Iowa City 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 plectranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your plectranthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your plectranthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Iowa City. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Iowa City is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Iowa City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your plectranthus if you have one of those late frosts.

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.