When to Plant Maltese Cross in Red Oak, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Red Oak should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant maltese cross.


Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

Frost tolerance for maltese cross: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since maltese cross do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in Red Oak 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 maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your maltese cross may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your maltese cross indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Red Oak. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Red Oak is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Red Oak last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your maltese cross in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

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 Red Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Oak.