One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses is to examine the USDA zone info for Independence.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Ornamental Grasses are barely cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Independence 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Independence. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Independence you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your ornamental grasses if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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