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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Los Angeles you will be able to estimate when to plant centaurea.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Los Angeles 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. If you wait any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Los Angeles. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Angeles and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Los Angeles it frosts late in the year after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your centaurea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Angeles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Angeles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Angeles.