One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 determining when to plant red hot pokers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Red Hot Pokers are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lancaster there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your red hot pokers if you have a 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.