One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The earliest that you can plant lovage in West Des Moines should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

You can plant lovage just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant lovage 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 lovage and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lovage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lovage 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your lovage 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.