One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 read to figure out when you can plant schizanthus.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

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

Since schizanthus are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Alachua is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alachua last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.