When to Plant Penstemon in Sidney, MT

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Sidney should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Penstemon

Frost tolerance for penstemon: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since penstemon are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant penstemon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant penstemon
Probably not a good time to plant penstemon

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Sidney 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Sidney. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sidney may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Sidney there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sidney

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Sidney

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