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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Gaithersburg it's a good idea to determine when you can plant delphinium.

Planting Calendar for Delphinium

Frost tolerance for delphinium:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant delphinium just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Gaithersburg is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your delphinium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your delphinium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Gaithersburg. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gaithersburg and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gaithersburg there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your delphinium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gaithersburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Gaithersburg

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