When to Plant Festuca in Anchorage, AK

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant festuca in Anchorage should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Since festuca do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Anchorage 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your festuca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Anchorage. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Anchorage is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Anchorage last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your festuca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

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