Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 making a decision about when it's the best time to plant ornamental grasses is to examine the USDA zone info for Olean.

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 slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Olean 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Olean. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Olean may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Olean there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your ornamental grasses in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Olean

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Olean

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