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 columbine by looking at the USDA zone info for Del Mar.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Del Mar is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant columbine and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Del Mar. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Del Mar and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Del Mar it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your columbine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Del Mar

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Del Mar

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Del Mar.