One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant larkspur in Athens should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Athens 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. Any later than that and your larkspur may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your larkspur indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Athens. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Athens is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Athens last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your larkspur if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Athens

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