When to Plant Pentas in Jacksonville, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 pentas in Jacksonville can be figured out by referring to 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.

You should not plant pentas until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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 Jacksonville 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. Any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pentas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Jacksonville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jacksonville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your pentas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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