One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 way of estimating when it's possible to plant creeping phlox is to use the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

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

You can plant creeping phlox much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Columbia 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your creeping phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your creeping phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Columbia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your creeping phlox if you have a 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.