One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for College Place should be reffered to in order to estimate 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 tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in College Place 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 fully mature. If you are starting your pennisetum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in College Place. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for College Place is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in College Place you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pennisetum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for College Place

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in College Place

You may be interested in your other planting guides for College Place.