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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Fort Myers you should be able to determine when you can plant pennisetum.

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.

You can plant pennisetum slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Fort Myers 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Myers the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Myers is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fort Myers you get a frost after January 31 so always be ready to cover your pennisetum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Myers

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Myers

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