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

The first opportunity to plant columbine in Vail should be determined by reviewing 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 bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Vail is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant columbine and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Vail the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vail and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Vail you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your columbine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vail

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Vail

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