One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant chamomile is to examine the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Chamomile

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

Chamomile do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chamomile in Columbia 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 chamomile and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chamomile may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chamomile indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Columbia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your chamomile if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

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 Columbia

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