One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant arabis in Columbia can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis do ok in a bit of cold which means 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 arabis 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your arabis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your arabis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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