One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant penstemon by checking out the USDA zone info for Catoosa.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Catoosa 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Catoosa. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Catoosa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Catoosa there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your penstemon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Catoosa

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 Catoosa

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