The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant penstemon is to consult the USDA zone info for Manheim.

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 some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Manheim the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manheim may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Manheim it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manheim

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 Manheim

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