One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Marshall should be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant centaurea.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Marshall. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marshall and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Marshall there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your centaurea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marshall

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Marshall

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