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

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant cuphea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Cuphea do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Lancaster 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lancaster. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lancaster is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your cuphea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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