One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer in Columbia should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Snow-in Summer

Frost tolerance for snow-in summer:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant snow-in summer a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer 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 snow-in summer and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your snow-in summer may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your snow-in summer indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your snow-in summer in the event of a late frost.

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.