When to Plant Penstemon in Zone 1b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant penstemon in Zone 1b can be determined by using 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 other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant penstemon 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 penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably July. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your penstemon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on June 15 in Zone 1b. It might get as low as -55°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 1b and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 1b you get surprised by a frost after June 15 be ready to cover your penstemon in the event of a 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.