Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant tithonia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Waukee.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant tithonia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Waukee is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tithonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Waukee the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waukee is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Waukee it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your tithonia in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.