One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant nigella in Gretna should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

Since nigella are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Gretna 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nigella may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your nigella indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Gretna. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Gretna may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gretna last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your nigella if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gretna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gretna

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