When to Plant Scarlet Pimpernels in Punxsutawney, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant scarlet pimpernels is to examine the USDA zone info for Punxsutawney.


Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

Frost tolerance for scarlet pimpernels: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Scarlet Pimpernels do well in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant scarlet pimpernels in Punxsutawney is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant scarlet pimpernels and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your scarlet pimpernels may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your scarlet pimpernels indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Punxsutawney. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Punxsutawney is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Punxsutawney last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your scarlet pimpernels if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Punxsutawney

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Punxsutawney

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