One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant centaurea is to look at the USDA zone info for Monroe.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Monroe 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

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Monroe. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Monroe and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Monroe last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your centaurea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Monroe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Monroe

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