One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant salpiglossis by referring to the USDA zone info for Benton.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

Frost tolerance for salpiglossis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since salpiglossis do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant salpiglossis in Benton 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 salpiglossis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salpiglossis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your salpiglossis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Benton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Benton you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your salpiglossis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Benton

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