One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant penstemon is to use the USDA zone info for Fort Stockton.

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 mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Fort Stockton 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. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your penstemon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Stockton the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Fort Stockton is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Stockton it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Stockton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Stockton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Stockton.