The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant nigella is to look at the USDA zone info for Carmel.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

Frost tolerance for nigella:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Nigella can survive in cold weather which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Carmel 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nigella may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your nigella indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Carmel. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Carmel is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your nigella in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Carmel

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