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.

One way of estimating when you can plant nigella is to use the USDA zone info for North Branch.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

Nigella tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in North Branch is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant nigella and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your nigella may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your nigella indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in North Branch. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Branch is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in North Branch you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your nigella if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Branch

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in North Branch

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Branch.