One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant festuca is to consult the USDA zone info for Albany.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

Frost tolerance for festuca:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since festuca do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Albany 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your festuca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Albany. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Albany is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albany there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your festuca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Albany

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