When to Plant Cilantro in Urbandale, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant cilantro by using the USDA zone info for Urbandale.


Planting Calendar for Cilantro

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

Cilantro can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Urbandale 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cilantro indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Urbandale 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Urbandale is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Urbandale last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cilantro if you have a surprise late frost.

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.