One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant pentas is to use the USDA zone info for Springfield.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

Since pentas require warm weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Springfield 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. If you wait any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Springfield. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Springfield there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your pentas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

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 Springfield

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