Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Mason City should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Arabis do ok in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Mason City 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arabis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your arabis 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 Mason City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mason City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mason City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mason City

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 Mason City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mason City.