One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant nigella in Montpelier by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

Since nigella do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Montpelier 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your nigella may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your nigella indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Montpelier. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Montpelier and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Montpelier last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your nigella in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Montpelier

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Montpelier

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