Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 6a it's possible to figure out when you can 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 moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant columbine in Zone 6a 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your columbine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 6a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 6a may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 6a last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your columbine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.