When to Plant Ornamental Grasses in Zone 11b

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Zone 11b can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


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.

Since ornamental grasses are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant ornamental grasses
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant ornamental grasses
Probably not a good time to plant ornamental grasses

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Zone 11b 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 11b it never frosts. You can expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 11b is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 11b you do not have to be ready to protect your ornamental grasses in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 11b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)Never
Lowest Expected Low45°F
Highest Expected Low50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 11b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 11b.