Des Moines, IA · zone 5b · ~183 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Des Moines.
In Des Moines, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 19 and the first fall frost around Oct 19, giving you about 183 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Des Moines, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 15 to May 15 | Apr 26 to Jun 26 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 12 to Apr 26 | Aug 5 to Oct 4 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 12 to Apr 14 | Jul 24 to Aug 19 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 19 to Jun 9 | Jul 5 to Aug 7 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 26 to Jul 26 | Jun 18 to Jul 19 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 24 to May 15 | May 5 to Jun 26 | — |
| Kale | Jan 29 to Feb 26 | Mar 12 to Apr 9 | Jul 19 to Sep 3 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 26 to Apr 9 | Aug 5 to Sep 23 |
Des Moines sits in Zone 5b, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Des Moines garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 50309 in about 60 seconds.