Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant penstemon in Red Oak can be figured out 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 a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Red Oak 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Red Oak is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Red Oak last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

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 Red Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Oak.