One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant pennisetum in Fresno should be estimated by reviewing 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 are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Fresno 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 really do well. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Fresno. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fresno is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Fresno 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 Fresno

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 Fresno

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