One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Lancaster you can determine when it's a good idea to plant sweet williams by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Williams

Frost tolerance for sweet williams:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant sweet williams a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet williams in Lancaster 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 sweet williams and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sweet williams may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your sweet williams indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

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.

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 make sure that you are ready to protect your sweet williams if you have 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.