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

The USDA zone info for Winterset should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant maltese cross.

Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

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

Maltese Cross are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in Winterset 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 maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your maltese cross may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your maltese cross indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Winterset is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winterset there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your maltese cross in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Winterset

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 Winterset

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winterset.