Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Cincinnati you can figure out when you can plant pennisetum by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pennisetum

Frost tolerance for pennisetum:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since pennisetum are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Cincinnati 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 pennisetum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cincinnati. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cincinnati is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cincinnati you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cincinnati

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Cincinnati

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