Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in West Des Moines should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cabbage

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

Cabbage do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in West Des Moines 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 cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in West Des Moines. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for West Des Moines may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cabbage 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.