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.

The USDA zone info for Carthage can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant fountain grass.

Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

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

Since fountain grass do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Carthage the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Carthage is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Carthage it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your fountain grass in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carthage

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