One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant rhubarb in Marshalltown should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

You can plant rhubarb a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant rhubarb in Marshalltown 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your rhubarb may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your rhubarb indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Marshalltown. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Marshalltown is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marshalltown it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your rhubarb in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marshalltown

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 Marshalltown

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