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When to Plant Snow-in Summer in Columbia Falls, MT

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant snow-in summer is to examine the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls.


Planting Calendar for Snow-in Summer

Frost tolerance for snow-in summer: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since snow-in summer are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant snow-in summer
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant snow-in summer
Probably not a good time to plant snow-in summer

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer in Columbia Falls 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 snow-in summer and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your snow-in summer may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your snow-in summer indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Columbia Falls. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia Falls last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your snow-in summer in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbia Falls.