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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Gunnison you should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant nigella.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

Frost tolerance for nigella:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Nigella do well in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Gunnison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gunnison and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Gunnison you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your nigella in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gunnison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°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 -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gunnison

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