One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Newport you should be able to estimate when you can 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 means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Newport 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Newport. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Newport is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Newport there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your penstemon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

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 Newport

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