One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Grand Junction you can figure out when to plant pennisetum by using 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.

Since pennisetum are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Grand Junction is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pennisetum and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Grand Junction the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Grand Junction is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Grand Junction you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Junction

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Junction

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Junction.