When to Plant Dallas Fern in Mason City, IA

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

The USDA zone info for Mason City can be read to figure out when to plant dallas fern.


Planting Calendar for Dallas Fern

Frost tolerance for dallas fern: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since dallas fern are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant dallas fern in Mason City 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 dallas fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your dallas fern may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dallas fern indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mason City. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mason City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mason City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dallas fern in the event of a 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.