Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Manhattan can be figured out by checking out 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.

Delphinium tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Manhattan 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. Any later than that and your delphinium may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Manhattan. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manhattan may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Manhattan there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your delphinium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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