One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Fort Atkinson can be read to estimate when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Ornamental Grasses are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Fort Atkinson 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Atkinson. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Fort Atkinson is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Atkinson you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your ornamental grasses if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Atkinson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Fort Atkinson

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Atkinson.