One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Anchorage you can figure out when it's the best time to plant pentas by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

It's a bad idea to plant pentas until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Anchorage 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 pentas and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Anchorage. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Anchorage is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Anchorage last frost occurs after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pentas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

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