When to Plant Pennisetum in Harrisonburg, VA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when you can plant pennisetum by using the USDA zone info for Harrisonburg.


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 means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pennisetum
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pennisetum
Probably not a good time to plant pennisetum

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Harrisonburg 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennisetum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Harrisonburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Harrisonburg and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisonburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisonburg

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 Low0°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 Harrisonburg

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