Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when to plant centaurea by looking at the USDA zone info for Traverse City.

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 tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Traverse City 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your centaurea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Traverse City. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Traverse City is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Traverse City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your centaurea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Traverse City

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 Traverse City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Traverse City.