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 Alabaster you can estimate when it's possible to plant four o' clock by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant four o' clock until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Alabaster 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 four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your four o' clock indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Alabaster. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alabaster may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Alabaster you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your four o' clock in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alabaster

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 Alabaster

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