One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 USDA zone info for Alachua can be used to figure out when it's possible to plant roses.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Since roses are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant roses in Alachua is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant roses and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your roses indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Alachua is not always accurate and 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 roses 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.