Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant columbine is to look at the USDA zone info for Ironton.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Since columbine do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Ironton 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your columbine may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ironton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ironton is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ironton last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your columbine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ironton

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 Ironton

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