One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Benton it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant hamelia.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Hamelia require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Benton 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hamelia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your hamelia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Benton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benton and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Benton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your hamelia if you have 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.