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

In Dawson you can determine when it's a good idea to plant cerastium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

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

Since cerastium do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cerastium in Dawson 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 cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cerastium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cerastium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Dawson. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dawson is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dawson it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cerastium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dawson

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 Dawson

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