When to Plant Pampas Grass in Salem, VA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant pampas grass is to check out the USDA zone info for Salem.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pampas grass until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Salem 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pampas grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Salem. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Salem may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Salem you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pampas grass in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Salem

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