One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Pittsburgh should be read to estimate when it's a good idea to plant pincushion flower.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

Pincushion Flower tend to make it in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower in Pittsburgh 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pincushion flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Pittsburgh and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pittsburgh you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pincushion flower in the event of 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 Low	0°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.