One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In New Haven you can estimate when it's the best time to plant pennisetum by reviewing 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.

You can plant pennisetum slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in New Haven 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 really do well. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Haven the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for New Haven is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New Haven it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Haven

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 New Haven

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Haven.