One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Austin should be used to figure out 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 do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Austin 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 fully mature. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Austin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Austin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Austin you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your columbine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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