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

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant centaurea is to look at the USDA zone info for Oakdale.

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 mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Oakdale 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. If you are starting your centaurea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oakdale the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oakdale is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Oakdale you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your centaurea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oakdale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Oakdale

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