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

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant tall phlox is to look at the USDA zone info for West Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Tall Phlox do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in West 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your tall phlox may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your tall phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Columbia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Columbia is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in West Columbia there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your tall phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West 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 West Columbia

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