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

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Beardstown should be determined 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 tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Beardstown 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your penstemon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Beardstown. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Beardstown may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Beardstown you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Beardstown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Beardstown

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