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.

The best time to plant penstemon in Zone 10b should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

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

Penstemon do well in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Zone 10b is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Zone 10b. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 10b and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 10b last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 10b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 10b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 10b.