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.

By using the USDA zone info for Petal you will be able to figure out when to plant four o' clock.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant four o' clock until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Petal 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 four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your four o' clock indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Petal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Petal is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Petal last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your four o' clock if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Petal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Petal

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