One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Shippensburg you can figure out when it's the best time to plant gayfeather by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gayfeather

Frost tolerance for gayfeather:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Gayfeather do well in cold which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gayfeather in Shippensburg 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 gayfeather and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gayfeather may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gayfeather indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Shippensburg is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shippensburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gayfeather if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shippensburg

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 Shippensburg

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