frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Penstemon in National City, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 National City you can estimate when it's possible to plant penstemon by looking at the USDA zone info.

Create beautiful hand-made plants at forever-plants.com

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the 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 National City 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in National City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for National City and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in National City there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for National City

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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 National City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for National City.