When to Plant Pennisetum in Palos Park, IL

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 best time to plant pennisetum in Palos Park can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


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 start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pennisetum
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pennisetum
Probably not a good time to plant pennisetum

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Palos Park 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Palos Park. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Palos Park is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Palos Park last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palos Park

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 Palos Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palos Park.