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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant pennisetum is to refer to the USDA zone info for Philomath.

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.

Pennisetum do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Philomath 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. Any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Philomath. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Philomath and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Philomath last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Philomath

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Philomath

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