One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant pumpkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Poplar Bluff.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Poplar Bluff 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. If you wait any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Poplar Bluff the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Poplar Bluff may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Poplar Bluff last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Poplar Bluff

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 Poplar Bluff

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Poplar Bluff.