One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Pittsburgh it's possible to figure out when you can plant rhubarb.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

You can plant rhubarb a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Pittsburgh is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pittsburgh you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your rhubarb in the event of 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 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.