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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant streptocarpella is to look at the USDA zone info for Iowa City.

Planting Calendar for Streptocarpella

Frost tolerance for streptocarpella:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Streptocarpella require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant streptocarpella 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 streptocarpella and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your streptocarpella may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your streptocarpella indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Iowa City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your streptocarpella 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.