One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant sanvitalia is to consult the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Sanvitalia

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

Since sanvitalia are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sanvitalia 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 sanvitalia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sanvitalia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sanvitalia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your sanvitalia if you have 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.