Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden 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 it's possible to plant penstemon is to use the USDA zone info for Mountlake Terrace.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Mountlake Terrace 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Mountlake Terrace. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mountlake Terrace is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mountlake Terrace there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountlake Terrace

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 Mountlake Terrace

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountlake Terrace.