When to Plant Celery in Marion, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when to plant celery is to check out the USDA zone info for Marion.


Planting Calendar for Celery

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

Since celery are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant celery in Marion 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 celery and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your celery may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your celery indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marion. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marion and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marion there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your celery if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Marion.