When to Plant Dill in Swarthmore, PA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 Swarthmore can be read to estimate when it's possible to plant dill.


Planting Calendar for Dill

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

Since dill are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant dill in Swarthmore 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 dill and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dill may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dill indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Swarthmore the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Swarthmore is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Swarthmore you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dill in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Swarthmore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Swarthmore

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