One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Swarthmore you can estimate when it's possible to plant primula by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

You can plant primula much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Swarthmore 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your primula indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Swarthmore. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Swarthmore may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Swarthmore last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your primula if you have a surprise late frost.

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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.