When to Plant Festuca in Zone 1b

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant festuca is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 1b.


Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Since festuca are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Zone 1b is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant festuca and expect a good harvest is probably July. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on June 15 in Zone 1b. You should expect an average low temperature of -55°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 1b and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 1b it frosts late in the year after June 15 be ready to protect your festuca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)July 15
Lowest Expected Low-55°F
Highest Expected Low-50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1b.