One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant penstemon in Winchester by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Since penstemon do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Winchester 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Winchester. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winchester is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Winchester you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your penstemon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Winchester

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