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 making a decision about when to plant four o' clock is to use the USDA zone info for Marion.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good 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 Marion 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. Any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your four o' clock indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Marion. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marion is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marion it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to cover your four o' clock if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

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