Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for West Des Moines it's a good idea to figure out when to plant red cabbage.

Planting Calendar for Red cabbage

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

Since red cabbage are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant red cabbage 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 red cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your red cabbage may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your red cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Des Moines. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is an average 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 you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your red cabbage if you have a surprise 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.