Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant centaurea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Vicksburg.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Vicksburg 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. Any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your centaurea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Vicksburg. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Vicksburg is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Vicksburg it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your centaurea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Vicksburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Vicksburg

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