One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of estimating when to plant pentas is to consult the USDA zone info for Salem.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

Frost tolerance for pentas:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Pentas require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Salem 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 pentas and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pentas may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pentas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Salem. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Salem is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Salem you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pentas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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