When to Plant Nasturtium in Zone 5a

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Zone 5a you can determine when it's a good idea to plant nasturtium by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Nasturtium

Frost tolerance for nasturtium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant nasturtium until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant nasturtium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant nasturtium
Probably not a good time to plant nasturtium

The earliest that you can plant nasturtium in Zone 5a 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 nasturtium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your nasturtium may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your nasturtium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 5a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 5a is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your nasturtium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

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 Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.