One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant penstemon is to look at the USDA zone info for New Rochelle.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

Frost tolerance for penstemon:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Penstemon do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that 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 New Rochelle 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 really do well. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Rochelle the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for New Rochelle may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in New Rochelle you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Rochelle

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 New Rochelle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Rochelle.