One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant pennisetum by referring to the USDA zone info for Ripley.

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 means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Ripley 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ripley the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ripley is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ripley you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ripley

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 Ripley

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