Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when you can plant festuca is to examine the USDA zone info for Owatonna.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

Frost tolerance for festuca:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant festuca a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Owatonna 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your festuca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Owatonna. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in 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 Owatonna and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Owatonna it frosts late in the year after May 15 so always be ready to protect your festuca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Owatonna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Owatonna

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