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

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant penstemon is to consult the USDA zone info for Cliffside Park.

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 earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Cliffside Park 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cliffside Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cliffside Park and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cliffside Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cliffside Park

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 Cliffside Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cliffside Park.