Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 Evansville can be reviewed to determine when it's the best time to plant penstemon.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Evansville 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Evansville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Evansville and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Evansville last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evansville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Evansville

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