One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Waukesha you can determine when it's a good idea to plant dallas fern by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dallas Fern

Frost tolerance for dallas fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant dallas fern until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dallas fern in Waukesha 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 dallas fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dallas fern may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dallas fern 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 Waukesha. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waukesha and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Waukesha you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dallas fern if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waukesha

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Waukesha

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