One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Peoria Heights can be determined by looking at 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 plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Peoria Heights 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 really do well. 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

In Peoria Heights the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Peoria Heights is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Peoria Heights you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your penstemon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria Heights

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 Peoria Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Peoria Heights.