When to Plant Pampas Grass in Charleston, SC

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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant pampas grass in Charleston by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Pampas Grass are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Charleston the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charleston last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pampas grass if you have a 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.