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.

In Franklin you can figure out when to plant pentas 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.

Pentas require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant pentas and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Franklin. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Franklin may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pentas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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