When to Plant Columbine in Columbus, OH

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.

The USDA zone info for Columbus can be reviewed to determine when you can plant columbine.


Planting Calendar for Columbine

Frost tolerance for columbine: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant columbine a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Columbus 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbus the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Columbus is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Columbus you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your columbine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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