One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Philadelphia you can figure out when to plant coreopsis by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant coreopsis a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Philadelphia is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your coreopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Philadelphia. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Philadelphia is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Philadelphia last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your coreopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Philadelphia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Philadelphia

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