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

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant larkspur is to refer to the USDA zone info for State College.

Planting Calendar for Larkspur

Frost tolerance for larkspur:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant larkspur much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in State College 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your larkspur may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your larkspur indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in State College. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for State College may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in State College there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your larkspur in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for State College

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 State College

You may be interested in your other planting guides for State College.