One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Gainesville it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dracaena.

Planting Calendar for Dracaena

Frost tolerance for dracaena:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Dracaena can survive in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Gainesville. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gainesville and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dracaena in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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