One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Charleston can be read to determine when it's a good idea to plant pampas grass.

Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant pampas grass until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in Charleston 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pampas grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charleston. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pampas grass in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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