When to Plant Celery in Charleston, SC

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Charleston can be read to determine when it's the best time to plant celery.


Planting Calendar for Celery

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant celery in Charleston 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 celery and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celery may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your celery 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 February 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charleston you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your celery in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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