One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mcallen should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant columbine.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Mcallen is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant columbine and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your columbine may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your columbine 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 February 15 in Mcallen. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mcallen is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mcallen it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your columbine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mcallen

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Mcallen

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