One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant leeks in West Des Moines by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since leeks are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant leeks 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for West Des Moines is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in West Des Moines you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your leeks 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.