Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Pittsfield should be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant festuca.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

Frost tolerance for festuca:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since festuca are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Pittsfield 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your festuca 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 Pittsfield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Pittsfield is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Pittsfield it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your festuca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pittsfield

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 Pittsfield

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