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 first opportunity to plant columbine in North Platte should be estimated 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 some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in North Platte 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In North Platte the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Platte is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in North Platte it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your columbine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Platte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in North Platte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Platte.