One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when to plant festuca is to check out the USDA zone info for Bristol.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Since festuca do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Bristol 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bristol. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bristol and it is different every year. Half of the time in Bristol there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your festuca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bristol

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Bristol

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