When to Plant Pentas in Frankfort, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first opportunity to plant pentas in Frankfort should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pentas

Frost tolerance for pentas: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since pentas do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pentas
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pentas
Probably not a good time to plant pentas

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Frankfort 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 few weeks earlier by starting your pentas indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Frankfort the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Frankfort is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Frankfort you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pentas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Frankfort

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 Frankfort

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