One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant cuphea by reviewing the USDA zone info for Harrisburg.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant cuphea until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Harrisburg 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Harrisburg. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Harrisburg is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisburg it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your cuphea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Harrisburg

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