Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when to plant dallas fern is to look at the USDA zone info for Alachua.

Planting Calendar for Dallas Fern

Frost tolerance for dallas fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Dallas Fern are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dallas fern in Alachua 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 dallas fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dallas fern may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dallas fern indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Alachua. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Alachua is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alachua it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your dallas fern in the event of 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.