One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cosmos in Alachua can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cosmos can survive in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Alachua 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 cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cosmos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Alachua. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alachua is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Alachua there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cosmos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alachua

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Alachua

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