One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Essex Junction should be looked at to determine when you can plant pentas.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

You can not plant pentas until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Essex Junction is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 fully mature. Starting your pentas indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Essex Junction. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Essex Junction is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Essex Junction it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pentas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Essex Junction

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Essex Junction

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Essex Junction.