Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 chance to plant pennisetum in Rio Vista should be figured out by looking at 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.

Pennisetum tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Rio Vista 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Rio Vista. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rio Vista is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rio Vista it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rio Vista

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 Rio Vista

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rio Vista.