One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses is to check out the USDA zone info for Mesquite.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since ornamental grasses are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Mesquite 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Mesquite. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mesquite and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mesquite last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your ornamental grasses if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mesquite

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mesquite

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