One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 determining when it's possible to plant helianthemum is to examine the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

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

Since helianthemum are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant helianthemum in Lancaster 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 helianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your helianthemum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your helianthemum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lancaster. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lancaster you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your helianthemum if you have one of those late frosts.

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.