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When to Plant Fountain Grass in West Lafayette, IN

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant fountain grass in West Lafayette should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

Frost tolerance for fountain grass: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant fountain grass a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant fountain grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant fountain grass
Probably not a good time to plant fountain grass

The earliest that you can plant fountain grass in West Lafayette 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 fountain grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fountain grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your fountain grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for West Lafayette is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Lafayette it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your fountain grass if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Lafayette

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 West Lafayette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Lafayette.