The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant columbine is to examine the USDA zone info for The Colony.

Planting Calendar for Columbine

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

Columbine do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in The Colony 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in The Colony. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for The Colony is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in The Colony it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for The Colony

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in The Colony

You may be interested in your other planting guides for The Colony.