One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Marshalltown you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant scabiosa by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Scabiosa

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

You can plant scabiosa a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant scabiosa 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 scabiosa and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scabiosa may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your scabiosa indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marshalltown the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marshalltown is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marshalltown there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your scabiosa in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.