One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Billings can be reviewed to figure out when to plant borage.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Since borage do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage in Billings 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your borage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Billings the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Billings and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Billings there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your borage in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Billings

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Billings

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