Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Washington you can estimate when it's possible to plant nigella by reviewing 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 do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Washington 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your nigella indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Washington. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nigella if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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