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.

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant penstemon by looking at the USDA zone info for Hidalgo.

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 tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Hidalgo 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. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. 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 February 15 in Hidalgo. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Hidalgo is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Hidalgo last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hidalgo

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 Hidalgo

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