Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant arctotis is to consult the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

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

Arctotis do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Columbia Falls 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your arctotis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Columbia Falls. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia Falls you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arctotis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia Falls

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