When to Plant Penstemon in Grosse Pointe, MI

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Grosse Pointe should be determined by referring to 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.

You can plant penstemon a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant penstemon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant penstemon
Probably not a good time to plant penstemon

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

Last Frost Date

In Grosse Pointe the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Grosse Pointe and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Grosse Pointe last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your penstemon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grosse Pointe

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 Low0°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 Grosse Pointe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grosse Pointe.