One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Bethalto it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant larkspur.

Planting Calendar for Larkspur

Frost tolerance for larkspur:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Larkspur are very cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Bethalto 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your larkspur may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your larkspur indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Bethalto. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bethalto is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bethalto it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your larkspur in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bethalto

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Bethalto

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