One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for Fox Lake should be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant columbine.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Fox Lake 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fox Lake. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fox Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fox Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your columbine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fox Lake

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 Fox Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fox Lake.