One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dusty miller in Columbia Falls by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dusty Miller

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

Dusty Miller tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant dusty miller 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 dusty miller and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your dusty miller may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dusty miller indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia Falls last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your dusty miller if you have one of those late frosts.

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.