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 New London can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant festuca.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

You can plant festuca just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in New London 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in New London. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for New London is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in New London you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your festuca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New London

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 New London

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New London.