Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant columbine in Northfield can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

Frost tolerance for columbine:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Columbine do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Northfield 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 columbine and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Northfield. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Northfield is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Northfield last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your columbine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Northfield

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