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 USDA zone info for Columbia can be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You really shouldn't plant cleome until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Columbia is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cleome 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 Columbia. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your cleome in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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