One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 pumpkins in Benton can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Benton 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Benton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Benton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Benton it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Benton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Benton

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