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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant delphinium is to look at the USDA zone info for Traverse City.

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 do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Traverse City 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 really do well. If you are starting your delphinium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Traverse City may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Traverse City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your delphinium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Traverse City

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 Traverse City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Traverse City.