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.

The first chance to plant columbine in Franklin should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Franklin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

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 Franklin

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