One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can determine when to plant begonias in Columbia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant begonias until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Columbia is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your begonias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your begonias indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbia the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your begonias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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