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 way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant columbine is to look at the USDA zone info for Apex.

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 means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Apex 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. Any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Apex. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Apex is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Apex last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your columbine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Apex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Apex

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