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When to Plant Anise in West Des Moines, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 USDA zone info for West Des Moines should be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant anise.


Planting Calendar for Anise

Frost tolerance for anise: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Anise are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant anise in West Des Moines is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant anise and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your anise indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Des Moines 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in West Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your anise in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

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 West Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Des Moines.