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.

In New York you can estimate when it's the best time to plant festuca by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in New York 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your festuca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in New York. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New York is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New York there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your festuca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New York

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in New York

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