One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when to plant canna is to refer to the USDA zone info for Columbus.

Planting Calendar for Canna

Frost tolerance for canna:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since canna require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your canna indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbus the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°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 Columbus and it is different every year. Half of the time in Columbus it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your canna if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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