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.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant achimenes by checking out the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Achimenes are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Lancaster is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lancaster is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your achimenes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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