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.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant penstemon by looking at the USDA zone info for Stoughton.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

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

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Stoughton 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. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your penstemon indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Stoughton is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Stoughton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your penstemon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stoughton

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 Stoughton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Stoughton.