One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Lake Wales can be looked at to estimate when it's a good idea to plant arctotis.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant arctotis just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Lake Wales is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arctotis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Lake Wales. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Wales is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake Wales you get a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your arctotis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Wales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Wales

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Wales.