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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant penstemon by referring to the USDA zone info for Sunland 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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Sunland 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. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Sunland Park. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sunland Park is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sunland Park you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your penstemon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sunland Park

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 Sunland Park

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