One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant four-o-clock flower is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 8b.

Planting Calendar for Four-o-clock flower

Frost tolerance for four-o-clock flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since four-o-clock flower are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant four-o-clock flower in Zone 8b 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 flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your four-o-clock flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your four-o-clock flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Zone 8b. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 8b and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8b you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your four-o-clock flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 8b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8b.