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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant columbine by referring to the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Vernon Hills 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Vernon Hills. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Vernon Hills you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your columbine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vernon Hills

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 Vernon Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Vernon Hills.