The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant dusty miller is to look at the USDA zone info for Charleston.

Planting Calendar for Dusty Miller

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

Dusty Miller do ok in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dusty miller 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 dusty miller and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your dusty miller may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dusty miller indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Charleston. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your dusty miller in the event of a late frost.

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.