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.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant fountain grass is to use the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

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

Fountain Grass do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant fountain grass in Waterloo 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 fountain grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fountain grass may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your fountain grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waterloo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Waterloo there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fountain grass if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterloo

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