One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant guara is to check out the USDA zone info for Ottumwa.

Planting Calendar for Guara

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant guara until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ottumwa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ottumwa is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ottumwa it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your guara if you have one of those late frosts.

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.