When to Plant Penstemon in Mountain View, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mountain View should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant penstemon.


Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

You can plant penstemon a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant penstemon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant penstemon
Probably not a good time to plant penstemon

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Mountain View 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. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mountain View the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mountain View and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mountain View there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountain View

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 Mountain View

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountain View.