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.

In Alice you can estimate when it's the best time to plant penstemon by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Alice is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Alice. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Alice may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alice there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alice

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Alice

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