One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Spring Lake you can determine when it's possible to plant penstemon by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Spring Lake 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Spring Lake. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Spring Lake is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Spring Lake you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Spring Lake

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 Spring Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Spring Lake.