One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Elwood it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible 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 can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Elwood 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 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 Elwood. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elwood is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elwood it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your columbine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elwood

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 Elwood

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