One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Marshalltown you can determine when it's a good idea to plant stevia by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Stevia are not cold tolerant 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 stevia in Marshalltown 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed 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 the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marshalltown and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Marshalltown last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your stevia 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.