One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 getting a good idea when it's possible to plant centaurea is to use the USDA zone info for Lake Forest.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Lake Forest is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your centaurea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Lake Forest. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Forest and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Forest you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your centaurea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Forest

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