One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Fredericksburg can be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant pennisetum.

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 are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Fredericksburg 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. Any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Fredericksburg. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fredericksburg is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fredericksburg last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fredericksburg

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 Fredericksburg

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