When to Plant Pampas Grass in Pittsburgh, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening 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 pampas grass in Pittsburgh can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

You can not plant pampas grass until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pampas grass may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pampas grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Pittsburgh. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Pittsburgh and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Pittsburgh you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pampas grass if you have a 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.