One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 using the USDA zone info for Dayton you should be able 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since pentas require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Dayton is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dayton the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Dayton is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Dayton last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pentas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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