One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first opportunity to plant penstemon in Lake Zurich can be determined by checking out 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 do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Lake Zurich 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lake Zurich. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Zurich is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake Zurich you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your penstemon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Zurich

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Lake Zurich

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Zurich.