One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant pennisetum by using the USDA zone info for Chattanooga.

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.

You can plant pennisetum just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Chattanooga 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Chattanooga. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chattanooga is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Chattanooga last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chattanooga

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Chattanooga

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