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.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant columbine by referring to the USDA zone info for Stockbridge.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

You can plant columbine just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Stockbridge 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. Any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your columbine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Stockbridge. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Stockbridge may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Stockbridge last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your columbine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stockbridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Stockbridge

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