Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Charleston should be looked at to figure out when to plant centaurea.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

You can plant centaurea a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Charleston is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your centaurea may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your centaurea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Charleston. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your centaurea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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