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.

The first chance to plant pentas in El Centro should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

Since pentas require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in El Centro is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pentas and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is January 31 in El Centro. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Centro is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in El Centro you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so always be ready to cover your pentas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.