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

In Southern Pines you can estimate when you can plant centaurea by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Southern Pines 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Southern Pines is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Southern Pines it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your centaurea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Southern Pines

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 Southern Pines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Southern Pines.