One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins is to use the USDA zone info for Lowell.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You can not plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Lowell 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lowell. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lowell is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lowell you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

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 Lowell

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