When to Plant Borage in Waukee, IA

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.

The first chance to plant borage in Waukee can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Borage are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant borage in Waukee 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your borage indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waukee the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Waukee is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Waukee it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your borage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waukee

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 Waukee

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