One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant centaurea is to examine the USDA zone info for Columbus.

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 start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Columbus 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your centaurea may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Columbus the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbus may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your centaurea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbus

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