One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Buda you can figure out when you can plant penstemon by looking at 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.

Since penstemon are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Buda. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Buda 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 Buda last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Buda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Buda

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