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 New Smyrna Beach you can determine when you can plant penstemon by referring to 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 moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in New Smyrna Beach 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. 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in New Smyrna Beach. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for New Smyrna Beach is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in New Smyrna Beach there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Smyrna Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Smyrna Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Smyrna Beach.