One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant pentas is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 9a.

Planting Calendar for Pentas

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

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

The earliest that you can plant pentas in Zone 9a is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pentas and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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

In Zone 9a the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 9a and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 9a you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pentas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.