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When to Plant Columbine in Prospect Heights, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Prospect Heights you should be able to estimate when it's the best time 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier 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 Prospect Heights 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your columbine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Prospect Heights may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Prospect Heights last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your columbine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Prospect Heights

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 Prospect Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Prospect Heights.