One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses is to examine the USDA zone info for River Falls.

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 do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in River Falls is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your ornamental grasses indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In River Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for River Falls and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in River Falls it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your ornamental grasses in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for River Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in River Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for River Falls.