When to Plant Columbine in Hinsdale, IL

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.

By using the USDA zone info for Hinsdale you will be able to determine when you can 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 do well in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant columbine
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant columbine
Probably not a good time to plant columbine

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Hinsdale 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hinsdale and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hinsdale last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hinsdale

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 Hinsdale

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