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.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant ruby grass by checking out the USDA zone info for Storm Lake.

Planting Calendar for Ruby Grass

Frost tolerance for ruby grass:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since ruby grass do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ruby grass in Storm Lake is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant ruby grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your ruby grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your ruby grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Storm Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Storm Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Storm Lake last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your ruby grass if you have a late frost.

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.