The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening 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 Lancaster should be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant squash.

Planting Calendar for Squash

Frost tolerance for squash:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You can not plant squash until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant squash 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Lancaster. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your squash in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.