One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Abilene you can estimate when you can plant centaurea by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

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

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Abilene 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 grow to maturity. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Abilene. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Abilene and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Abilene it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your centaurea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Abilene

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 Abilene

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