One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant penstemon is to examine the USDA zone info for Brownsville.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Brownsville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Brownsville the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Brownsville is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Brownsville it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brownsville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Brownsville

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