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

In Sterling you can estimate when you can plant pennisetum by reviewing 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 some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Sterling 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Sterling. 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 Sterling may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sterling you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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