One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant penstemon is to consult the USDA zone info for Homestead.

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 plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Homestead 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 fully mature. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Homestead the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Homestead is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Homestead you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Homestead

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 Homestead

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