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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Clara you will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant pentas.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

Since pentas do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Santa Clara is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pentas may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pentas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Santa Clara. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Clara and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Clara it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your pentas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Clara

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Clara

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Clara.