One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Bloomington should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Delphinium

Frost tolerance for delphinium:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant delphinium just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Bloomington 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 delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your delphinium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your delphinium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Bloomington. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Bloomington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bloomington you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your delphinium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Bloomington

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