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.

The USDA zone info for Bay Minette should be used to estimate when it's possible to plant columbine.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Bay Minette 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 columbine and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bay Minette. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bay Minette is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bay Minette there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your columbine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bay Minette

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 Bay Minette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay Minette.