One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Carlstadt you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant penstemon 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.

Penstemon do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Carlstadt 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Carlstadt. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carlstadt is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Carlstadt it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carlstadt

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Carlstadt

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