When to Plant Creeping Phlox in Osceola, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Osceola it's a good idea to determine when to plant creeping phlox.


Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

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

Since creeping phlox are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Osceola 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your creeping phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your creeping phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Osceola the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Osceola is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Osceola last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your creeping phlox in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Osceola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Osceola

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Osceola.