One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Rockaway you can determine when it's a good idea to plant pennisetum by using the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant pennisetum just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Rockaway 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rockaway. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rockaway is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockaway you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockaway

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Rockaway

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