One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Iowa City you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant sanvitalia.

Planting Calendar for Sanvitalia

Frost tolerance for sanvitalia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since sanvitalia do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant sanvitalia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sanvitalia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sanvitalia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on 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 will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your sanvitalia in the event of 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.