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When to Plant Tropical Water Plants in Mason City, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 USDA zone info for Mason City can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant tropical water plants.


Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Tropical Water Plants do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tropical water plants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tropical water plants
Probably not a good time to plant tropical water plants

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tropical water plants may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mason City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mason City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mason City you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your tropical water plants in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.