The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Orange Beach should be read to figure out when you can plant calliopsis.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

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

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Orange Beach 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your calliopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orange Beach the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange Beach and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Orange Beach last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your calliopsis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange Beach

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 Orange Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Orange Beach.