Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Storm Lake you can estimate when it's possible to plant achimenes by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

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

You should not plant achimenes until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Storm Lake 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your achimenes 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 has passed is on April 15 in Storm Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Storm Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Storm Lake you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your achimenes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Storm Lake

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 Storm Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Storm Lake.