One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first chance to plant columbine in Escondido can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Since columbine are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Escondido 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your columbine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Escondido. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

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 Escondido and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Escondido it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Escondido

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Escondido

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