When to Plant Canna in Pittsburgh, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant canna in Pittsburgh should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Canna

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

It's not a good idea to plant canna until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant canna
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant canna
Probably not a good time to plant canna

The earliest that you can plant canna in Pittsburgh 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 canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your canna indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Pittsburgh. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Pittsburgh may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pittsburgh last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your canna if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pittsburgh

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Pittsburgh

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