One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant millet is to use the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Millet

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

You really shouldn't plant millet until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant millet in Lancaster 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 millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your millet indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Lancaster. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your millet if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

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 Lancaster

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