When to Plant Pennisetum in Zone 3a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant pennisetum is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 3a.


Planting Calendar for Pennisetum

Frost tolerance for pennisetum: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since pennisetum are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather 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 pennisetum
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pennisetum
Probably not a good time to plant pennisetum

The earliest that you can plant pennisetum in Zone 3a is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pennisetum and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pennisetum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pennisetum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Zone 3a. It might get as low as -40°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 3a is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 3a you get a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pennisetum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.