One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Grass Valley you can figure out when it's possible to plant pennisetum 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.

You can plant pennisetum a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Grass Valley 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. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Grass Valley. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Grass Valley is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Grass Valley there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grass Valley

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 Grass Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grass Valley.