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

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant pumpkins is to use the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You can not plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lancaster and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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