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

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant squash by referring to the USDA zone info for Wilmington.

Planting Calendar for Squash

Frost tolerance for squash:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since squash do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Wilmington is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your squash may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Wilmington. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wilmington and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your squash in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Wilmington

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