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When to Plant Pennisetum in Grand Rapids, MN

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Grand Rapids you can estimate when it's possible to plant pennisetum by checking out 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 a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Grand Rapids is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 grow to maturity. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Grand Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Grand Rapids is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-35°F
Highest Expected Low-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Rapids.