The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rockland can be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pennisetum.

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.

You can plant pennisetum a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Rockland 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rockland. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rockland is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rockland there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rockland

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 Rockland

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