One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Cortez you can figure out when to plant penstemon by checking out 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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Cortez 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cortez. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cortez and it is different every year. Half of the time in Cortez you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your penstemon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cortez

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Cortez

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