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.

The USDA zone info for Aberdeen can be reviewed to figure out when it's a good idea to plant penstemon.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Aberdeen 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Aberdeen the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Aberdeen is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Aberdeen last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your penstemon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aberdeen

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Aberdeen

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