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

The USDA zone info for Decatur should be read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant centaurea.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Decatur 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. Any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Decatur. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Decatur is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Decatur there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your centaurea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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