When to Plant Centaurea in Waukee, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant centaurea by using the USDA zone info for Waukee.


Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Since centaurea are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Waukee. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waukee may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waukee it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your centaurea 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.