When to Plant Celosia in West Des Moines, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant celosia by looking at the USDA zone info for West Des Moines.


Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant celosia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant celosia in West Des Moines 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your celosia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your celosia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Des Moines the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Des Moines may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in West Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your celosia if you have 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.