When to Plant Daylily 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 most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for West Des Moines it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant daylily.


Planting Calendar for Daylily

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

You can plant daylily just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your daylily in the event of a late frost.

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.