Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Ottumwa should be used to determine when it's possible to plant chrysocephalum.

Planting Calendar for Chrysocephalum

Frost tolerance for chrysocephalum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You should not plant chrysocephalum until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant chrysocephalum in Ottumwa 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 chrysocephalum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chrysocephalum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chrysocephalum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ottumwa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottumwa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottumwa you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chrysocephalum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottumwa

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 Ottumwa

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