One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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 Oak Forest should be determined 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.

Since pentas do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Oak Forest 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. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Oak Forest 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 Oak Forest there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pentas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Forest

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 Oak Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Forest.