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.

The USDA zone info for Marathon can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant four o' clock.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Four O' Clock are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Marathon is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your four o' clock may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your four o' clock indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 45°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to protect your four o' clock in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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