One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The first chance to plant festuca in Newport can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca do well 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 festuca in Newport is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your festuca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Newport the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Newport is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your festuca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

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 Newport

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