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.

It's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant tritoma by referring to the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Tritoma

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

You can plant tritoma much earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant tritoma 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 tritoma and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tritoma may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tritoma indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Columbia 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 Columbia is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your tritoma in the event of a 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.