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.

The first opportunity to plant penstemon in Manhattan Beach can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Manhattan Beach 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 January 31 in Manhattan Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manhattan Beach is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Manhattan Beach you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Manhattan Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Manhattan Beach.