The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant festuca is to refer to the USDA zone info for Montpelier.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Montpelier 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Montpelier. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Montpelier may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Montpelier you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your festuca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Montpelier

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Montpelier

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