One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mill Creek should be reffered to in order to determine 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 are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Mill Creek 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. Any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pennisetum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Mill Creek. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mill Creek may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mill Creek there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mill Creek

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mill Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mill Creek.