One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The first chance to plant pentas in Athens can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pentas until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Athens 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. Any later than that and your pentas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pentas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Athens. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Athens is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your pentas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

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 Athens

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