Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 read to estimate when to plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

Cleome require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cleome indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Columbia. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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