The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant pentas by looking at the USDA zone info for Cocoa.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pentas until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Cocoa 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. If you wait any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pentas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Cocoa. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cocoa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cocoa there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pentas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cocoa

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 Cocoa

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