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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Centralia it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant sunflowers.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since sunflowers do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Centralia may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Centralia you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Centralia

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 Centralia

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