One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant ornamental grasses by using the USDA zone info for Alma.

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.

Ornamental Grasses do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Alma 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. If you wait any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your ornamental grasses indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Alma. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alma is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Alma it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your ornamental grasses if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Alma

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