The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Massena can be read to figure out when you can plant penstemon.

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 plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Massena the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°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 Massena and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Massena there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Massena

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Massena

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