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

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant pumpkins by looking at the USDA zone info for Safford.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since pumpkins require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Safford 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Safford. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Safford and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Safford you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Safford

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 Safford

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