One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant pentas is to refer to the USDA zone info for Port Clinton.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

Frost tolerance for pentas:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant pentas until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Port Clinton 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 grow to maturity. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Port Clinton. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Clinton is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Port Clinton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your pentas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Clinton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Port Clinton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Clinton.