One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Melbourne can be figured out 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.

Pentas require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Melbourne 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 grow to maturity. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Melbourne. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Melbourne is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Melbourne last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pentas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Melbourne

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 Melbourne

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