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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant borage is to use the USDA zone info for Louisville.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Since borage are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage in Louisville 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your borage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Louisville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Louisville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Louisville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your borage in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Louisville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Louisville

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