One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant pennisetum by looking at the USDA zone info for West Linn.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in West Linn 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. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in West Linn. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Linn is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in West Linn last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Linn

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 West Linn

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Linn.