One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when you can plant pennisetum by looking at the USDA zone info for Clarksdale.

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 can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Clarksdale 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Clarksdale. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Clarksdale is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Clarksdale it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clarksdale

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 Clarksdale

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