One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant cilantro is to use the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since cilantro do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Columbia is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cilantro indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Columbia. You should 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 will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cilantro if you have one of those late frosts.

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.