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.

In Auburn you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant columbine by checking out 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.

Since columbine do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Auburn 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your columbine may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your columbine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Auburn the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Auburn is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Auburn there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your columbine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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