One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bismarck you can determine when it's possible to plant delphinium by checking out the USDA zone info.

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.

Since delphinium do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Bismarck is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your delphinium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Bismarck the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bismarck is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bismarck there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your delphinium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bismarck

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Bismarck

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