One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant romaine lettuce is to look at the USDA zone info for West Chester.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

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

Since romaine lettuce are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in West Chester 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Chester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Chester and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Chester you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your romaine lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chester

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 West Chester

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chester.