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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant achimenes in Cocoa by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Achimenes require warm weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Cocoa 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cocoa the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cocoa is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cocoa you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your achimenes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cocoa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Cocoa

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