Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant centaurea by looking at the USDA zone info for Forest Lake.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

Frost tolerance for centaurea:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Forest Lake 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 centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your centaurea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Forest Lake the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Forest Lake and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Forest Lake there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your centaurea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Lake.