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

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant delphinium is to check out the USDA zone info for Dunkirk.

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.

Delphinium do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Dunkirk the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Dunkirk is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dunkirk last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your delphinium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dunkirk

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Dunkirk

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