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.

It's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant pennisetum by referring to the USDA zone info for Maryland Heights.

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.

Pennisetum do ok in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Maryland Heights 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Maryland Heights. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Maryland Heights is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Maryland Heights you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Maryland Heights

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 Maryland Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Maryland Heights.