When to Plant Pentas in Milan, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Milan should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant pentas.


Planting Calendar for Pentas

Frost tolerance for pentas: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Pentas do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up 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 Milan 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your pentas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Milan. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Milan is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Milan you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pentas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Milan

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 Milan

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