The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant crossandra is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ottumwa.

Planting Calendar for Crossandra

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

You should not plant crossandra until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant crossandra 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 crossandra and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your crossandra may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your crossandra indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ottumwa. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottumwa and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottumwa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your crossandra in the event of 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.