Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant pentas by using the USDA zone info for Decatur.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

Frost tolerance for pentas:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant pentas until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Decatur 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 pentas and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pentas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pentas indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Decatur the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Decatur may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your pentas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Decatur.