Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Athens you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant caladium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

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

Since caladium do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Athens. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

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 Athens and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Athens there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your caladium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Athens

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Athens.