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 you can plant pennisetum in Mansfield by looking at the USDA zone info.

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.

Since pennisetum are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Mansfield 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. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mansfield the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mansfield and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mansfield last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pennisetum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mansfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mansfield

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