The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when you can plant pennisetum by using the USDA zone info for Urbana.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Urbana 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 fully mature. Starting your pennisetum 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 Urbana. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Urbana is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Urbana there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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