One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 estimate when to plant doronicum by reviewing the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Doronicum

Frost tolerance for doronicum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since doronicum do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant doronicum 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 doronicum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your doronicum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your doronicum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waterloo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Waterloo it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your doronicum in the event of a late frost.

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.