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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant bachelor buttons by referring to the USDA zone info for Zone 8b.

Planting Calendar for Bachelor Buttons

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

You can plant bachelor buttons a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bachelor buttons in Zone 8b 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 bachelor buttons and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your bachelor buttons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bachelor buttons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 8b the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 8b and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8b you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your bachelor buttons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8b

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 Zone 8b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8b.