One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant creeping phlox is to refer to the USDA zone info for Benson.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

Frost tolerance for creeping phlox:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant creeping phlox a lot earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Benson 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your creeping phlox may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your creeping phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Benson. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Benson may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Benson you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your creeping phlox in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Benson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Benson

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