One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant fountain grass is to refer to the USDA zone info for El Monte.

Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

Frost tolerance for fountain grass:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Fountain Grass do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant fountain grass in El Monte 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 fountain grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your fountain grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fountain grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in El Monte. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Monte and it is different every year. Half of the time in El Monte it frosts late in the year after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your fountain grass if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Monte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Monte.