One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant scabiosa is to use the USDA zone info for Urbana.

Planting Calendar for Scabiosa

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

Scabiosa do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant scabiosa in Urbana 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 scabiosa and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scabiosa may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your scabiosa indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbana. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Urbana may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Urbana there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your scabiosa if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Urbana

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