When to Plant Primula in Orange City, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Orange City you can estimate when you can plant primula by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Primula are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

Since the USDA zone info for Orange City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Orange City you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your primula in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange 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 Orange City

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