One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of figuring out when you can plant pennisetum is to check out the USDA zone info for Charles City.

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.

Pennisetum do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Charles City is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pennisetum and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charles City. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charles City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charles City last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charles City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Charles City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charles City.