One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant diascia is to look at the USDA zone info for Gulf Shores.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

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

Since diascia are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Gulf Shores. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gulf Shores and it is different every year. Half of the time in Gulf Shores you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your diascia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gulf Shores

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 Gulf Shores

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gulf Shores.