When to Plant Pentas in Norfolk, VA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when you can plant pentas in Norfolk by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pentas
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pentas
Probably not a good time to plant pentas

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Norfolk. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Norfolk and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Norfolk you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your pentas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Norfolk

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