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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Columbus you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant calliopsis.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant calliopsis until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Columbus 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Columbus. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbus is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your calliopsis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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