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.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant pennisetum is to check out the USDA zone info for Milpitas.

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 tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Milpitas 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. Any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Milpitas. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Milpitas and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Milpitas you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pennisetum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Milpitas

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 Milpitas

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