One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo it's possible to estimate when it's possible 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.

Since centaurea are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in San Luis Obispo 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your centaurea may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your centaurea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In San Luis Obispo the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in San Luis Obispo you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your centaurea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Luis Obispo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in San Luis Obispo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Luis Obispo.