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.

You can estimate when to plant pennisetum in Arcata by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Arcata. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Arcata and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Arcata it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arcata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Arcata

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