One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Columbia you can determine when it's a good idea to plant salvia by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since salvia are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Columbia 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your salvia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your salvia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

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 Columbia

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