The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Philadelphia can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Philadelphia 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. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Philadelphia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Philadelphia is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Philadelphia it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.