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 USDA zone info for Cocoa can be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dianthus.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Dianthus do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your dianthus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Cocoa. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cocoa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cocoa you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.