One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant polka dot plant is to look at the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Polka Dot Plant

Frost tolerance for polka dot plant:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since polka dot plant do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant polka dot plant in Waterloo is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant polka dot plant and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your polka dot plant may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your polka dot plant 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 Waterloo. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Waterloo there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your polka dot plant in the event of a 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.