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 Selma you can determine 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since pentas are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Selma 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 fully mature. If you are starting your pentas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Selma. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Selma may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Selma last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your pentas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Selma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Selma

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