One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 determining when it's a good idea to plant borage is to examine the USDA zone info for Smiths Station.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Since borage do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant borage in Smiths Station is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant borage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your borage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Smiths Station the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Smiths Station may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Smiths Station you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your borage in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smiths Station

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Smiths Station

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Smiths Station.