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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant strawflowers is to consult the USDA zone info for Billings.

Planting Calendar for Strawflowers

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

Strawflowers are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant strawflowers in Billings is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant strawflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your strawflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your strawflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Billings may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Billings it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your strawflowers if you have 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.