When to Plant Lovage in Columbia, MO

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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Columbia it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant lovage.


Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

Lovage do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant lovage in Columbia 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 lovage and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lovage may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lovage indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbia the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lovage in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

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 Columbia

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