One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The best time to plant centaurea in Schenectady should be figured out by referring to 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 plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Schenectady 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. Starting your centaurea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Schenectady. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Schenectady may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Schenectady you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your centaurea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Schenectady

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 Schenectady

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