One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 USDA zone info for Benton can be reviewed to estimate when it's possible to plant diascia.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

Frost tolerance for diascia:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant diascia a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant diascia in Benton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant diascia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your diascia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your diascia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Benton. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benton is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Benton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your diascia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Benton

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