One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant cilantro is to use the USDA zone info for Safford.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Safford 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cilantro indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Safford. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Safford may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Safford you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cilantro in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Safford

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 Safford

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