One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when to plant pennisetum by reviewing the USDA zone info for Rockingham.

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 are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Rockingham 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rockingham is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rockingham you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockingham

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 Rockingham

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