One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Philadelphia it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant corn.

Planting Calendar for Corn

Frost tolerance for corn:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant corn until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant corn 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 corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your corn may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your corn indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Philadelphia. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Philadelphia is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Philadelphia there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your corn if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Philadelphia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Philadelphia

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