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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant columbine by checking out the USDA zone info for Sykesville.

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 mild cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Sykesville 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. If you wait any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Sykesville. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sykesville is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sykesville last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sykesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Sykesville

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