When to Plant Ornamental Grasses in Bessemer, AL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden 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 Bessemer should be looked at to figure out when it's possible to plant ornamental grasses.


Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant ornamental grasses just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant ornamental grasses
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant ornamental grasses
Probably not a good time to plant ornamental grasses

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Bessemer 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your ornamental grasses indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bessemer and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bessemer there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your ornamental grasses if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bessemer

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Bessemer

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