One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 Ottawa you can determine when it's a good idea to plant foxglove by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Foxglove

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

Since foxglove do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant foxglove in Ottawa 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 foxglove and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your foxglove may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your foxglove indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ottawa. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your foxglove in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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