One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant centaurea by reviewing the USDA zone info for Sunnyvale.

Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Since centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Sunnyvale 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 really do well. If you are starting your centaurea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Sunnyvale. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Sunnyvale is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Sunnyvale it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your centaurea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sunnyvale

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 Sunnyvale

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