The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant centaurea is to refer to the USDA zone info for La Junta.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in La Junta 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 fully mature. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In La Junta the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Junta is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in La Junta you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your centaurea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Junta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in La Junta

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Junta.