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.

The USDA zone info for Wheaton should be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant pennisetum.

Planting Calendar for Pennisetum

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

Pennisetum do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wheaton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wheaton and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wheaton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pennisetum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wheaton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Wheaton

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