One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when to plant penstemon is to consult the USDA zone info for Eureka.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Eureka 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. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Eureka. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Eureka is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Eureka last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your penstemon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Eureka

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 Eureka

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