One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant caladium is to consult the USDA zone info for Urbandale.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant caladium until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Urbandale 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your caladium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbandale. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Urbandale is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Urbandale last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your caladium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Urbandale

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 Urbandale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Urbandale.