One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Valley Stream you can determine when you can plant penstemon by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Valley Stream 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your penstemon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Valley Stream. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valley Stream is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Valley Stream last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Valley Stream

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 Valley Stream

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Valley Stream.