One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant didiscus in West Des Moines can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Didiscus

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

Since didiscus are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant didiscus 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 didiscus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your didiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your didiscus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is an average and 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 be sure to be ready to cover your didiscus 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.