One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant liatris is to use the USDA zone info for Benson.

Planting Calendar for Liatris

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

Liatris are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant liatris 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 liatris and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your liatris may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your liatris indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benson and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Benson it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your liatris if you have 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.