When to Plant Schizanthus in Storm Lake, IA

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

The first chance to plant schizanthus in Storm Lake should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant schizanthus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Storm Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Storm Lake is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Storm Lake it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of a surprise 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.