One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant four o' clock is to look at the USDA zone info for Erie.

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.

Since four o' clock require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Erie 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. If you wait any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your four o' clock indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Erie the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Erie you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your four o' clock in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Erie

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