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.

In Fort Lauderdale you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant penstemon by using 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 do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Fort Lauderdale 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 grow to maturity. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Lauderdale the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Lauderdale and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Lauderdale you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Lauderdale

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 Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°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 Fort Lauderdale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Lauderdale.