One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Opelika you will be able to estimate when you can plant caladium.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

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

You really shouldn't plant caladium until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Opelika 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Opelika. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Opelika and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Opelika last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your caladium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Opelika

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Opelika

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