When to Plant Delphinium in Augusta, ME

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Augusta can be reffered to in order to figure out 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.

Delphinium tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant delphinium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant delphinium
Probably not a good time to plant delphinium

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Augusta. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Augusta and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Augusta it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your delphinium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Augusta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Augusta

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