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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant larkspur is to check out the USDA zone info for Melrose Park.

Planting Calendar for Larkspur

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

Larkspur do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Melrose Park 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your larkspur indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Melrose Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Melrose Park may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Melrose Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your larkspur in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Melrose Park

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 Melrose Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Melrose Park.