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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant penstemon is to examine the USDA zone info for Atascadero.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Since penstemon do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Atascadero is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Atascadero. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Atascadero is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Atascadero it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Atascadero

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Atascadero

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