One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant pennisetum is to use the USDA zone info for Crystal Springs.

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

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Crystal Springs 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Crystal Springs. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Crystal Springs is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Crystal Springs it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Crystal Springs

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 Crystal Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Crystal Springs.