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

It's possible to estimate when to plant centaurea by reviewing the USDA zone info for Big Bear Lake.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Big Bear Lake 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 centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Big Bear Lake. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Big Bear Lake and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Big Bear Lake last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your centaurea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Bear Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Bear Lake

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