One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant pentas in Erie can be estimated by looking at 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.

You really shouldn't plant pentas until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pentas 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 pentas and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pentas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Erie. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Erie you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pentas if you have 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.