When to Plant Cauliflower in Waverly, 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Waverly it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant cauliflower.


Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in Waverly 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 cauliflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cauliflower may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cauliflower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Waverly. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Waverly is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waverly it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cauliflower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waverly

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 Waverly

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