One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Waterloo it's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant arabis.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since arabis do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Waterloo is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Waterloo is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Waterloo you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your arabis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

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 Waterloo

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