One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant pennisetum is to use the USDA zone info for Rockville.

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.

Pennisetum do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Rockville 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. Any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rockville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Rockville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Rockville

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